The acting is so good in both seasons (and the guy who plays Charles Brandon is delightful eye candy in addition to being a good actor). I like how they capture the flawed human qualities of these historical figures so well - such as Sir Thomas More - the leading scholar who burned books and the guy who burned Protestants at the stake who ending up being beheaded for his own Catholicism (though he never made the connection that the people he killed were every bit as much martyrs as he was). And they did Anne Boleyn's final days in the Tower almost word for word from the written historical records. And I have read in a lot of more modern history books that her miscarriages and the tension between herslf and Cromwell over the disolution of the religious houses did, indeed, lead to her death - and I have also read that the King took advantage of the situation to purge his court of gays, who were accused of being her lovers. Now these are modern interpretations of events that took place hundreds of years ago, but I do like how they incorporated them into the show.
The worst bits from season one:
Henry Fitzroy dying as a tiny child rather than a late teen. This change added nothing to the show, and in fact took away tension they could have used to ratchet up the pressure on Anne Boleyn to carry a son to term, as some nobles were suggesting that he be made heir before either of the daughters.
Margaret Tudor was Henry's elder sister and married the King of Scotland, not the King of Portugal. After that marriage ended (the King was killed when invading England at the battle of Flodden) she went on to marry Scottish nobles. It was her descendants who went on to rule the UK after the death of Elizabeth and James took both thrones.
(The death of the King of Scotland was one of the more impressive moments of Henry's reign, even though he had nothing to do with it. He was off playing at war in France, and the Scots took advantage and invaded. The pregnant Katherine of Aragorn, named Regent of England in Henry's absence, raised an army, rode with it part of the way, and that army won the huge victory.)
Henry's younger sister was Mary Tudor and she married the elderly King of France, who died just a couple (I want to say maybe three?) months after their marriage. There is no suggestion whatsoever that she killed him. It was Mary who made the secret marriage to Charles Brandon, and she was the ancestor of poor little doomed Lady Jane Grey.
I have no idea why they did what they did with Henry's sisters on the show - sort of combine them into one being, and then make up some strange stuff, and throw in some real stuff, too...
And I hope you guys get a new/good used high quality TV soon. If nothing else, I bet you can get great deals this year as the holidays grow closer!