J. “Digger” Doyle (1981)
Tom Selleck and Erin Gray in Magnum, P.I.
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Thieves are attempting to steal tapes of Robin Masters’ new book. Magnum joins forces with security expert J. “Digger” Doyle to prevent the theft. Part of the history of the Haiku Stairs are true. It was a low frequency radio antenna and radio station build during WWII. The Haiku Radio Station was commissioned by the USN after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941. The proposal was approved in 1942. When Digger jumps from the truck after she and Higgins find T.C. treed by Zeus and Apollo, she is brandishing a hand gun in her right hand. When she arrives at the tree she no longer has the hand gun and both hands are on her hips.
J. “Digger” Doyle (1981)
Tom Selleck and Erin Gray in Magnum, P.I.
This episode served as a pilot for a spin-off series starring Erin Gray, but a series was not ordered. Erin Gray was born in Hawaii. The mountain stairs seen in this episode actually do lead to a former Navy installation. Known as the Haiku Stairs and Stairway to Heaven, the 3,000 step path was a popular hiking trail for many years, until the endless flood of parked cars in the neighborhood below forced the state to shut it down. Although a million dollars had been spent in renovation and land for a prospective parking lot had been identified, the state voted in April, 2024 to remove the steps.
J. “Digger” Doyle (1981)
Tom Selleck, Erin Gray, John Hillerman, and Stewart Moss in Magnum, P.I.
This is the most notable of several episodes that contradicts the theory that Robin Masters may be none other than Higgins himself. (NOTE: The Higgins-might-be-Masters was just a running joke in the last season. It wasn’t meant to be taken seriously.). Until now the layout of the Robin Masters estate has been vague. In this episode a map is displayed. This is the first episode where T.C. calls Higgins “Higgie Baby”. When dictating his resignation Higgins states his full name as Jonathan Quail Higgins III. With the notable exception of a ruling monarch, the British do NOT generally name their offspring as Blah Blah [numeral] or even Blah Blah Jr. That is an obvious Americanism. Magnum:[a drugged Higgins has been rambling with one of his stories as Magnum carries him on his back up the side of a mountain] Higgins, SHUT UP!
Lisa is played by Jacquelyn Ray, who was Tom Selleck’s wife at the time this episode was done.
Tom Selleck and Wendy Girard in Magnum, P.I. (1981) Magnum: [narrates] This was one of those days I wish I’d listened to my mother and studied to be an orthodontist. Looking into someone’s mouth has got to be better than staring death in the face.
Wendy Girard in Magnum, P.I. (1981)
The Woman on the Beach (1981) with Tom Selleck, Judith Chapman, and Larry Manetti in Magnum, P.I. (1981)
The Woman on the Beach (1981) with Judith Chapman in Magnum, P.I. (1981) Judith Chapman’s appearance in this Season 2 episode on October 22,1981 came within 7 months of her first appearance in Season 1 “The Black Orchid” which aired on April 2, 1981.
The Woman on the Beach (1981) with John Hillerman in Magnum, P.I. (1981)
Tom Selleck in From Moscow to Maui (1981)
John Hillerman and Allan Rich in From Moscow to Maui (1981)
Tom Selleck and John Hillerman in From Moscow to Maui (1981).
Higgins: It is eminently satisfying, Magnum, to know that as a result of this, a few heads will roll in Moscow. You know, when I was in Vienna, the Soviets tried to recruit me as an agent. Unbelievable crude, I came home one night to find a naked woman in my bed. I knew immediately she was Russian. They use stainless steel (taps his teeth)
Higgins: instead of gold.
Tom Selleck in From Moscow to Maui (1981)
John Hillerman in From Moscow to Maui (1981). The camera Higgins uses to photograph his battle model is a Canon with the name obscured by black tape. The camera model appears to be an A-1.
Larry Manetti and Roger E. Mosley in From Moscow to Maui (1981)
Magnum: Oh, come on, TC, is it too much to ask to get my slides right side up?
TC: Not a problem, not a problem, not to worry. I forgot what a nasty C.O. you can be…
Tom Selleck and Jeff Pomerantz in From Moscow to Maui (1981). The Soviet defector was based on a real life event. In 1976, a Russian pilot flying a MiG-25 defected from the Soviet Union by landing his aircraft in Japan. This was a major coup, as the MiG-25 was thought to be the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world. When the aircraft was examined by the American military engineers, they were dumbfounded by how backward it actually was. They were astonished that the Soviets were still using vacuum tubes instead of solid-state electronics. The pilot became an American citizen and spent the rest of his life in the U.S. The truck used by the Soviets toward the end of the movie had the company name “Naida League” and the promotion of “Burials at Sea” painted on the sides and back of the truck. In Greek mythology, the Naiads are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. Naiads were associated with fresh water, however the Oceanids were associated with saltwater. Therefore, a more proper company name to be associated with burials at sea would be Oceanids, or some such variation.
Episode Number: 3
Season Number: 1.3
Air Date: 12/18/1980
Writer: Donald P. Bellisario
Director: Donald P. Bellisario
Producer: J. Rickley Dumm
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario
Recurring Characters
Remi Abellira (Moki)
Guest Stars
Susie Elene (Mai Ling), George Cheung (Choi), Yankee Chang (Han Ling), Lee de Broux (Duffy), Roland Nip (Pin Ling), Marvin Wong (Ho Ling), Lee Gaber (Tourist)
Episode Brief
Magnum is hired by a beautiful Chinese antiques dealer to protect an ancient vase known as The Soul of Soong until its buyer arrives in Hawaii to collect it. What he doesn’t know is that the vase is also wanted by a Tong gang and a deadly martial arts assasin who will stop at nothing to get it for them.
The original script for this episode was titled “Never Play with a China Doll”.
This episode won a 1981 Edgar Award for Best Television Episode.
In the DVD releases for Regions 1 and 2, the music and audio is out of sync in several scenes. The first notable instance is when Magnum and Mai Ling kiss in the Chinese garden; the music comes in 12 seconds late. When Magnum leaves and realizes he’s been followed, the score kicks in notably late, as does the music when Magnum is running along the beach looking for Mai Ling. The scene with the tourists talking to Rick is way off as well, with the music playing over the dialog. The “Six Million Dollar Man” sound effects in the graveyard do not match up with Magnum’s movements. (Noted by Jay-Firestorm)
Series co-creator, executive producer and episode writer/director Donald P. Bellisario is briefly seen during the opening credits (at the same time his director credit is shown) walking down N. Hotel Street in Chinatown. (Noted by Pete W.)
Magnum wears his Detroit Tigers baseball cap and the iconic red Hawaiian “Jungle Bird” shirt for the first time! Surf legend and L.A. fabric store owner Philip “Flippy” Hoffman created the tropical screen-print design for the shirt.
There are several noticeable differences between the “Pilot Movie” and this episode, the first official episode of the series:
The license plate on the Ferrari is now ‘ROBIN1′ (instead of ’56E-478′) and will remain so for the rest of the series. Oddly, the ’56E-478’ license plate will also continue to be seen for the rest of the series, in the opening title sequence (the “ferrari glance” shot, from the “Pilot Movie”).
The interior of the main house at Robin’s Nest has changed significantly. In the “Pilot Movie”, the indoor scenes of the main house at Robin’s Nest were actually filmed at the Clarence H. Cooke House in the Nuuanu Valley (not at the Anderson Estate), but starting with this episode soundstage sets at the Hawaii Film Studio will be used for all interior shots at Robin’s Nest.
Rick now runs the King Kamehameha Club with no explanation given as to what happened to his glitzy discotheque (Rick’s Cafe Americain, aka “The Snow Palace”) from the “Pilot Movie”! Rick’s character has also changed. He is no longer a retro “Bogie”-type character.
The famous Magnum “look back” shot is seen at the end of this episode. There are actually two different “look backs” in the same scene. In the first one, he turns his head to the right (this is the one used in the opening title sequence for all seasons). In the second one, he turns his head to the left.
The desk in Higgins’s office/study is the exact same desk used by Steve McGarrett in the original Hawaii Five-O. The desk will be used throughout the show’s run.
Higgins “breaks the fourth wall” (“locking eyes” with the audience) for the first time. He will do so in only a handful of episodes.
Magnum is trilingual. He speaks English, French and Vietnamese. The French part will be contradicted in “Little Girl Who” (7.7), where it’s clear that Magnum does not speak French.
List of notable filming locations:
N. Hotel Street, Chinatown – “opening scene”
Club Hubba Hubba (Interior)- “Duffy the sailor meets Choi”
Waikiki Beach – “Magnum & Mai Ling”
Kapiolani Park – “Rick’s pedicab ride” & “jetty stroll”
Manoa Chinese Cemetery*, Manoa Valley – “Magnum vs. Choi”
The “Chinese” garden, Walker Estate – “Han Ling’s house & garden”
Chinese enforcer Choi (George Cheung) lays some serious hurt on the main characters. T.C. suffers some “busted ribs” and a broken collar bone after tangling with Choi one-on-one. At the end of the episode, Choi throws a Shuriken (a throwing star) at Magnum, which lodges in the back of his right hand! Ouch! Magnum also suffers a bruised left knee. Choi was no match for Magnum’s .45, however.
Rick wears a “hot dog shirt” in this episode. Lloyd DeWitt will wear a different “hot dog shirt” in Season Four’s “The Return of Luther Gillis” (4.16). That’s right, the show features two different “hot dog shirts” that will be worn by different characters some four years apart!
The couple that take a ride with Magnum and T.C. in the chopper is the same couple that is turned down for a pedicab ride by Rick (while he waits for Choi to arrive). (Noted by seahawks1)
The shot of Waikiki beach with a girl showering at a beachside shower is stock footage from the 1979 TV movie The Chinese Typewriter starring Tom Selleck and James Whitemore Jr. The footage will be used again in “Missing in Action” (1.9) and Season Four’s “Limited Engagement” (4.5). (Noted by golfmobile)
Lee de Broux (Duffy the Sailor) will later appear as Gallagher (the tourist shop owner) in Season Three’s “The Arrow That is Not Aimed” (3.14) and Rodney Radcliff (the hot rod mechanic) in Season Six’s “Old Acquaintance” (6.3).
Magnum is seen using a Star Model B handgun in his encounter with Choi at the cemetery. In a closeup shot of the gun, however, a Star Model BM (compact version of the Star Model B) is used. Normally, Magnum uses a Colt Government Model .45 ACP handgun. (Noted by MaximRecoil)
In 1962 in Cairo, Higgins was briefly attached to the British Museum there and learned a thing or two about repairing vases.
