Some of the costumes in The Tudors were just downright silly, they were so far off base. If the makers of the Tudors wanted the series to be “camp”, an entertaining “romp”, inappropriate costumes would have been part of the show. But I think mostly the intention of The Tudors was to be more serious history than camp entertainment.
What I thought most interesting about Wolf Hall was it was the first filmed version of the Henry 8th/Anne Boleyn melodrama (that I’ve seen) where Thomas More was not portrayed to be very saintly. Hey, I’m Roman Catholic, I didn’t know Thomas More had people tortured, LOL. I’ve also seen many versions of Anne’s execution scene on film, she was always bent over a block and the executioner (in a scary black hood and clothes) used an axe to chop off her head. In Wolf Hall she was executed on her knees by a French swordsman who was not dressed as an executioner and he used a sword to cut her head off. He told Cromwell that he didn’t want to dress like an executioner and panic Anne before she was blindfolded. After she was blindfolded he even took his shoes off when he got onto the platform. He quietly tip-toed to the right position near Anne and then made a sound to make Anne turn her head a certain way—all done to get her head and neck into perfect position for a clean slice between heartbeats.
It has been rumored that Thomas More tortured heretics on his property - sometimes tying them to trees. It has not been proven, though. Henry allowed Anne to have an expert executioner who appeared to be one of many other people on the platform so she wouldn’t be unduly alarmed by the sight of a masked man. As shown in Wolf Hall, he distracted her as well. That scene was beautifully done and Claire Foy was excellent as always.
I have to disagree with you on that. If that was their intent, they failed miserably as it to me looked and felt more like an interpretation of history as seen through a director who makes soft porno movies or MTV videos and has not read anything of the historical period.
FWIW, I watched the movie Marie Antoinette written and directed by Sofia Coppola and starring Kirsten Dunst. And as bad as it was in some parts, with its use of modern music in some sequences and use of some, if not many story telling liberties, it was still more faithful to history than The Tudors.