Magnum Mania!

No Need to Know

Episode ID: 5
Episode Number: 1.5
Air Date: 1/8/1981
Writer: Frank Lupo
Director: Lawrence Doheny
Producer: J. Rickley Dumm
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Recurring Characters

Richard Johnson (Brig. Allistair Ffolkes), Remi Abellira (Moki)

Guest Stars

Robin Dearden (Mandy), Ed Grover (Agt. Hooker), Gene Hamilton (Agt. Dobey), Marika Van Kampen (Suzie)

Plot Outline

Higgins' old Royal Army commander is staying on the Masters Estate awaiting the trial of IRA members he helped to capture. Magnum is hired by two Secret Service agents to protect him from assassins trying to silence him before he is able to testify. However, the "need to know" basis the Agents insist on operating by only serves to complicate matters for Magnum.

Rating

8.5 (17 votes) MM Episode Forum Thread & Poll

Notes

1 The opening scene in this episode shows real stock footage from the Provisional IRA campaign in Belfast, N. Ireland. Two of the names mentioned in news audio, "Pac Farnsworth" and "Tim Barstol", are fictional.

2 The NIA (Naval Intelligence Agency) is mentioned again. "NIA" is fictional. The U.S. Navy does not call it's intelligence agency NIA. It is called ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence).

3 Brig. Allistair Ffolkes (Richard Johnson) will appear again in Season Three's "Faith and Begorrah" (3.23).

4 Magnum fires up a cigar for the first of many times to come.

5 For P.I. work, Magnum charges $200 a day, plus expenses.

6 We get to see a rare peek inside the boathouse (the "guesthouse" in the show), just inside the porch (or lanai) door. During a scene where Magnum and Mandy walk towards, and into, the "guesthouse", Magnum opens the porch door, and for a brief second or two, we see that behind the door there is a cinder block wall (close to the door) and a railing [pic]. It appears that this is a stairway, one that leads directly back down to the ground level of the boathouse. In similar scenes in other episodes, you don't get to see what is on the other side of the door, because the camera will cut away to the guesthouse set.

7 Kengi the gardener is seen raking leaves at the estate. He's also seen in "Computer Date" (2.14), "Echoes of the Mind (1)" (5.1 & 5.2) & "Professor Jonathan Higgins" (5.13). Kengi never has any speaking lines in the show.

8 Rick mentions that he had a dog once on the islands. It was run over by a pineapple truck.

9 In 1951, Higgins was stationed in Hong Kong, Sergeant Major to Brig. Allistair Ffolkes, British Army.

Quotes

1
Rick: You gotta try this sauce, Thomas. Even Sinatra would love it!

2
Magnum: Decided to take in a little air Brigadier?
Ffolkes: No, I decided to have a few quiet words with you, if that's alright? Tell me Magnum, who is it you are working for now? Is it the NIA still, or some other outfit?
Magnum: Now, what makes you think I'm working for anybody?
Ffolkes: Well, if I was in their shoes, and an ex-NIA agent happened to be in the neighborhood, I would use you.
Magnum: Well, why would they want anybody like me? Arn't we all on the same side?
Ffolkes: Technically yes, but you know the score Magnum. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. It's all a question of 'need to know' isn't it?
Magnum: Yes, that's right. Maybe that's what's wrong with our "Firms". Maybe if we communicated a little better there would be a little less killing.
Ffolkes: It's a nice idea, but I doubt it. It's practically impossible to eliminate inter-agency rivalries. It would be like taking the competition out of the Super Bowl or World Series.
Magnum: Well, that certainly makes it sound like a nice little game.
Ffolkes: Yes, I know what you mean Magnum. It's serious business. People lose their lives, of course. Ah, that's the way it is and if it's a game, it's a game I want to win - beat the other fellow. If you can change the world, I'd be happy to go along with you. In the meantime, I've got to do my job and you've got to do yours. Which brings me back to my original point - Who are you working for?
Magnum: Well Brigadier, I don't believe you have a 'need to know'. Good night, sir.

Flubs

1 Allistair Ffolkes is credited as 'Brigadier General Allistair Ffolkes' and is referred to as 'Brigadier General' several times in the episode. This is a flub. The rank of Brigadier General was abolished in the British Army and Royal Marines in 1922. 'Brigadier' is the correct rank. It's interesting to note that while others refer to him as 'Brigadier General', Allistair Ffolkes calls himself 'Brigadier', as does Magnum.

2 When the guy on the Catamaran (Sampson) is taking pictures of the girls and Brigadier Folkes on the balcony, the Brigadier is wearing a white long sleeve shirt and khaki pants. However, when Magnum and Rick enter Sampson's apartment, they discover bomb making materials as well as several photos of the Brigadier. The photos of the Brigadier show the Brigadier in a white-dinner jacket with black bow tie. The problem with these photos is that the dinner party at Robin's Nest hasn't taken place at the time Sampson took the photos. The dinner party was later that night, so how could Sampson have taken pictures of the Brigadier in his dinner jacket and bow tie on the estates balcony? (Noted by IslandHopper)

3 When Magnum and Ffolkes are walking together on the lawn at Robin's Nest at night, shadows from the movie cameras can be seen on the grass.

4 When Magnum takes off in the Ferrari to catch Higgins and the Brigadier before the bomb goes off in the Audi, Magnum is wearing a navy blue golf shirt and khaki pants, and is wearing his "Team Ring" on his left hand. The camera cuts to a close up of the interior of the Ferrari as Magnum (or his stunt double) shifts. Suddenly, Magnum is wearing blue jeans and the "Team Ring" is on his right hand (with the Cross of Lorraine emblem upside down). (Noted by IslandHopper)

5 Mandy is seen holding a revolver with a silencer. With one exception only (the Nagant M1895), revolvers cannot be equipped with a silencer [link]. Mandy's gun was not a Nagant M1895 [pic].

6 The sticker on the front license plate of the Audi shows a date of '1976'. I don't think Higgins or Robin would let the tags expire four years in a row! (Noted by IslandHopper)

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