I don't think you can watch it as a history lesson. It is tosh. But Aidan Turner is very easy on the eye, and the story is the TV equivalent of a 'page turner'.
I don't think it's just you. Some people like programmes like this to be educational, and some just take them as entertainment - different strokes. Personally, I see them as a bit like historical fiction - the bare bones are there, but if you want the 'facts' (such as we know them about things that happened hundreds of years ago) read a text book, and even then, be very aware that historians interpret the past - they often know very little of the facts around interpersonal stories.