As a former history teacher, I looked forward to listening to this episode and was impressed at its portrayal of how Rasputin died. What the "Courtyard of Death" touched upon--but didn't dare go into detail--was the perverse life of Rasputin. Though he was a spiritual adviser to the Romanovs (Alexandra more so than Nicholas whom was afraid of Rasputin), Rasputin was as perverse as a man could be. He believed that in order for forgiveness to abound, he would have to do acts that would require forgiveness. Rasputin was a sexual deviant and murderer. The episode did a fair job of detailing the death of Rasputin who in actuality lived through a stabbing and an effort to poison him which the episode does touch upon. "Courtyard of Death" did a nice job introducing its listener to Rasputin and the last czar of Russia. 3 stars.

The story of Rasputin and the Russian monarchy at the early part of the 20th century. Rasputin is a notorious drinker and womanizer who is also a priest. He is either much loved, or much hated by citizens. He holds great power and influence in the country and seems to hold the ruling monarchs in his pocket. One family loses a daughter to the wiles of Rasputin, “Come sin with me as you’ve never sinned before, then we shall pray together and seek salvation.” The girl’s sister seeks revenge.

I enjoyed this episode. The history woven into the story was fairly accurate. However, the acting was very, very overdone. Also, I'd love to hear an episode where the actors would attempt an accent. I get tired of American actors hamming it up for an American audience with no attempt at sounding appropriate for the part. It removes so much from the story. Would it be so hard for the actors to attempt a slight Russian accent? It really would have added dimension and possibly taken away from the over-the-top acting each actor gave to the script. It was as though they were trying to over act one another. Three starts

A fair listen, not the best. A little research showed that they were mostly historically accurate on details so that was a plus. However, some of the acting wasn't really the best so I would agree with Nicole on 3 stars. I do mostly disagree with Nicole about the Russian accent - it almost seems silly to affect a Russian accent if you aren't speaking Russian (they didn't speak English with their Russian accent after all), but I do understand and slightly concede her point.

Very interesting, historical drama about an interesting character of history. I enjoyed this episode and learned something about Rasputin and early 20th Century Russia. The actor who portrays him is perfect, with his deep, sinister, yet seductive voice. I think it's better that they didn't use a phony Russian accent in this episode. I agree with Alec when he says that Russians don't speak English with a Russian accent, so why should the actors? (There are other CBSRMT episodes where people speak with fake European and/or Russian accents. It's often distracting and often takes away from the authenticity of the story.) I didn't feel that the acting was all that overdone in this story, especially compared with a few other CBSRMT episodes, where the hammy acting really stood out.

I'm staining and finishing a bunch of wood and these make a tedious task very enjoyable. My wife and I are going on a 1500 mile drive in a few weeks and I am really looking forward to it just because I`ll get to do some serious CBSRMT listening.

Not the best but interesting due to historical facts. Did enjoy the news and commercials, though for nostalgic reasons.

VERY difficult to listen to this one in the post me too era. This should have a trigger warning on it due to multiple depictions of attempted rape and sexual assault...