Airing on the NBC Blue radio station (later becoming ABC) and the Mutual Network from 1942 to 1957, this show helped fill the need of radio listeners who wanted some WWII and post-WWII espionage. David Harding was the chief of US Counterspies, a fictional organization. US Counterspies was involved in all sorts of espionage and counter-espionage against Japan's Black Dragon, and Germany's Gestapo.
It has been hinted at, but not proven that Phillips Lord was involved in some sort of espionage, or government work himself. But that is just a rumor. What is true though is that Lord had unique access to the inner workings of our countries crime and intelligence agencies. This came about because of the cozy arrangement he had while doing the Gangbusters radio show. Gangbusters had had J. Edgar Hoover's blessing and help, and he had a good relationship with the mysterious Hoover. It’s believed that through Phillips, some of the stories came about.
At the beginning of David Harding Counterspy the main enemies were Germany and Japan. But after World War II ended, David Harding got to tangle around a bit with the commies. David Harding Counterspy also solved crimes here in the US, from stolen car rings to drug smuggling, and everything in between.
The main character of David Harding was played by four different actors through the run of the show, and the main recurring character is Harry Peters, who was played by three different old time radio actors.
David Harding Counterspy had numerous sponsors over the years including Gulf Oil, Kraft Foods, Ex-Lax, etc., but the longest and most memorable is Pepsi-Cola. This old time radio espionage thriller had no problem getting sponsors. The scripts were good, and Counterspy was noted for the quality of the sound effects used. It also brought up some pretty interesting schemes, such as giving our cattle germs to spread disease. Another was putting a bomb in a dog's collar.