Newton's career is a splendid example of the truth being stranger than fiction - when he moved onto the Royal Mint not only did he introduce significant innovations (milled edges on coins) but also went undercover to gather evidence against counterfeiters and then also ran the prosections of accused in court:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton#Royal_Mint

I'd love to see a TV adaptation of the Baroque Cycle keeping Newton as one of the main characters (there must be material there for a 100 or so shows).