Adam Graham
500 episodes listed below
Old radio cases, still under suspicion.
The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 1 gathers radio mysteries from Sherlock Holmes, Barrie Craig, Johnny Dollar, Let George Do It, and Rogue's Gallery. Adam Graham introduces the episodes with practical archive notes, listener comments, and the occasional title or broadcast-context wrinkle.
PRESS PLAY
The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 1 is a large anthology of classic detective radio, presented with short framing from Adam Graham. It is built around old broadcast drama rather than modern conversation. Cases begin with announcers, sponsors, familiar program formulas, and then a quick plunge into rooms where somebody is lying. The atmosphere is brisk and theatrical. Sherlock Holmes may be moving through fog and quarrels over a trained cormorant, while Barrie Craig is trading wisecracks with a man holding a gun in a peppermint striped shirt. The language has polish, but the streets are never far away. A witness dodges, a widow remembers, a detective rifles through a dead man's things, and the next clue usually comes by telephone, threat, or badly timed entrance. Graham's role is editorial and practical. He gives contact notes, listener comments, support acknowledgments, and small pieces of archive context before the drama takes over. Those notes can be useful. He points out title disputes around Let George Do It, missing audio at the start of a Johnny Dollar episode, and the network movement behind Rogue's Gallery. The show is especially good for listeners who enjoy the original machinery of radio mystery. Sponsor breaks remain part of the texture. So do formal announcer openings, recurring character taglines, and the clipped pace of a story built for a half-hour broadcast. The rotation keeps the feed from settling into one detective's habits. Sherlock Holmes brings deduction and literary familiarity. George Valentine brings danger-for-hire bravado. Barrie Craig brings private-eye patter and comic self-defense. Johnny Dollar brings grief, insurance work, and careful procedural pressure. Rogue's Gallery adds another flavor of network detective melodrama. The result is not a polished remake. It is an archive with fingerprints on it, and that is the point. The show preserves the grain of old detective radio: dramatic narration, sharp entrances, moral shadows, and the dry pleasure of a clue finally finding its mark.
Made for: For listeners who want classic detective stories in their original radio shape, with announcers, sponsors, theatrical narration, and fast-moving dialogue intact. It also suits archive-minded mystery fans who enjoy brief historical framing before the case begins.
What sets it apart: The show pairs full vintage detective dramas with Adam Graham's compact editorial setup, so the listener gets both the broadcast artifact and the context around it. Its rotating lineup makes the feed feel like a programmed detective shelf rather than a single-series replay.
Adam Graham continues his journey through Old Time Radio Detective programs from their first available adventure to their final bow in Seasons 1-3 which were released between 2009 and 2012, featuring nearly 800 Old Time Radio episodes. You can listen to the current podcast feed of The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio here.In this volume, you'll hear:Alan Ladd playing Dan Holiday, a reporter-mystery writer who will go anywhere and do anything to those who send him a letter to Box 13.Jack Webb as Pat Novak for Hire, a Man Who Rents Boats and also ends up getting involved in murders...
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Adam Graham pairs vintage detective plays with practical context about incomplete recordings, reused scripts, and how individual mysteries have aged.
The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 1 puts vintage detective radio back on the air with its dramatic machinery intact: clipped interrogations, first-person case narration, sudden accusations, and deductions delivered through dialogue.
Murder improves the laundry when Sherlock Holmes and Johnny Dollar handle the questions.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A Holmes mystery built from a battered box, a bird, and a domestic quarrel that turns sharp.
A battered dispatch box and a kitchen quarrel over a fish-loving bird set the episode in motion. What stands out is the way the dialogue keeps folding back on itself, with Holmes and Watson tracing a case through small, strange details.
A brisk hardboiled case turns a quiet hideout into a tight office threat.
This episode keeps its footing by tying a simple fear to a clean, escalating setup. A woman wants to hide and rest, Barry Craig follows that need into Scotch Plain, and Jeffrey Foley gives the story a useful center of gravity.
A missing opening barely dents a crisp, smoky Johnny Dollar case.
Johnny Dollar drops into a murder-tinged mess around Glenn English, with Donna, Bruno, and Warren Kelly pulling the case in different directions.
Holmes turns a kidnapping note into a brisk, sharply staged detective puzzle.
The Case of the Missing Heiress opens with a kidnapping note, a carriage inspection, and Holmes pushing past what looks obvious to study the scene itself.
A witch story that keeps sliding back into hard evidence.
The episode follows a small-town conflict that hardens into death and fire, with suspicion fixed on a woman everyone calls a witch. It moves through a school board meeting, newspaper talk, and the mill, where burned walls and multiple hotter spots make accident look less likely.
A tight radio noir built on suspicion, clipped questioning, and a suspect who never quite leaves the frame.
Rogue's Gallery keeps its story tight: Rogie, a filed-off gun, and a red-headed suspect who never quite leaves the frame. Urban's questioning stays clipped, and the pressure comes from the evidence narrowing fast, with the gun's missing number and the fingerprints on it pushing…
A dry, talk-forward mystery where each answer seems to raise another question.
Johnny Dollar follows a case tied to Mr. Collins' death, with a guarded witness and a marriage that already looks frayed. The episode settles into interrogation and lets that mode do real work: the questions stay clipped, the answers keep slipping sideways, and suspicion never…
Four McElroys narrate a wizard battle-royale tournament across elimination trials on Octave Ziggurat.
A continuous Fabula Ultima actual-play campaign following one party through the world of Perpetua.
An ensemble cast plays teen superheroes through Masks: A New Generation campaigns and guest one-shots.
A recurring cast plays full Pathfinder 2E, Shadowdark, and Pendragon campaigns session by session.
A Dungeon World actual-play campaign following three comedians battling villain Callum Blackhammer.
Sherlock Holmes is drawn into a case that opens in Dr.
This episode of the detective radio show 'Let George Do It' features a story titled 'Solo in Whispers' about private investigator George Valentine taking on dangerous cases.
Barry Craig, played by William Gargan, begins with a comic chase involving a gray coupe, a “repulsive little man,” and a woman hiding in his car after a ticket at Grand Central Station.
Johnny Dollar investigates the death of Glenn English, a lawyer and longtime friend who called at 10:30 p.m.
This episode features a radio adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes story 'The Red-Headed League' by John Stanley and Alfred Shirley on Mutual network, comparing it to a previous version.
This episode features a classic old-time radio detective drama, 'The Iron Cat', introduced by host Adam Graham.
Adam Graham introduces and discusses the MBC run of the old time radio detective program 'Rogues Gallery' from 1946.
This episode features an old-time radio detective drama, Barry Craig Confidential Investigator, introduced by host Adam Graham.
Adam Graham introduces an episode of The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio, featuring a radio drama starring Dick Powell as a narcotics commissioner.
A host introduces and plays classic old-time radio detective episodes, starting with a segment on Box 13.
A kidnapping note signed by the Black Hand kicks the case into motion.
A woman known as Miss Abby is treated by the town as a problem it never quite knows what to do with.
Adam Graham opens by thanking listeners and warning Netflix users about Perry Mason movies leaving Starz.
Johnny Dollar pushes into the Collins matter with steady pressure.
Adam Graham introduces a podcast series featuring classic detective radio shows and promotes listener support with premium gifts.
This episode introduces a classic detective radio show and encourages listener support with donation incentives for premium content.
Adam Graham introduces a listener support drive for his podcast featuring classic detective radio shows from the 1940s-50s.
Adam Graham introduces a listener support experiment for his podcast series featuring old-time radio detective programs.
This episode features an old-time radio detective drama, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, introduced by host Adam Graham.
This episode presents classic old-time radio detective stories from the 1940s and 1950s.
Host Adam Graham introduces and plays episodes of classic old-time radio detective shows like Box 13 and Let George Do It.
Host Adam Graham introduces an episode of the old-time radio detective series 'Rogues Gallery' and promotes an Audible trial offer.
Host Adam Graham introduces and plays an episode of the old-time radio detective series Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator.
This episode features an old-time radio detective drama, 'Yours Truly Johnny Dollar', introduced by host Adam Graham.
This episode presents classic detective radio dramas from the 1940s-1950s, featuring characters like Dan Holiday and Jack Webb.
This episode features classic detective radio dramas from the 1940s-50s, including Alan Ladd as Dan Holiday in 'Box 13'.
Host Adam Graham introduces an episode of the old-time radio detective series 'The Triangle Murder Case' from The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio.
Host Adam Graham introduces and plays an episode of the old-time radio detective drama 'Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator' titled 'Ghost of a Chance'.
Host Adam Graham introduces and plays an episode of the old-time radio detective series 'The Millard Ward Matter' starring Edmund O'Brien.
Host Adam Graham introduces and plays an old-time radio adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes story 'The Red-Headed League.'
This episode features the classic detective radio show 'Let George Do It' with the story 'Mix Up in La Cruza', where private detective George Valentine takes on dangerous cases.
This episode features a classic old-time radio detective drama starring Dick Powell as private investigator Richard Rogue in 'Rogue's Gallery'.
This episode features the old-time radio detective show 'Barrie Craig: Death and the Purple Cow' as part of a podcast that explores classic detective stories and related content.
This episode of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar features the detective story 'The Douglas Taylor Matter' starring Edmund O'Brien.