(July – September 1938) The first radio series for which Welles had full creative control. One-hour adaptions of literary works, including Dracula and The Thiry-Nine Steps.

Before Orson Welles created his own radio series, he frequently performed on the radio in series such as The March of Time and The Shadow. He used his income from radio to support the theater company he founded with John Houseman, the Mercury Theatre. The Mercury Theatre made a big impression in 1938, and Time magazine featured Welles on its cover on May 9, 1938. Taking advantage of Welles’s new celebrity, CBS offered Welles total creative control for a short radio series. First Person Singular ran for nine episodes, from July 11 to September 5, 1938. It continued under the title The Mercury Theatre on the Air.

Welles produced nine episodes of First Person Singular. Eight are presented here; missing is The Affairs of Anatol (broadcast August 22, 1938).