Magnum P.I.

Iconic 80's TV private detective

Produced by legendary TV producer Donald Bellasario, Magnum PI was first broadcast in April 1981 and ran until May 1988

Thomas Magnum, a Naval Intelligence officer, resigns his commission and becomes a private investigator on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. He lands a home in the guest house on the estate of a millionaire author Robin Masters in exchange for testing the estate's security, to do this he has to work with the skeptical and reluctant estate manager Higgins, veteran of the  British Army soldier. he owns two very large, very viscious Dobermanns Zeus and Apollo who he uses to test Magnum.

Magnum makes full use of the perks that come with working on the estate, the most obvious of which is a red 308 GTS Ferrari, Audi, and all-terrain Jimmy, he also uses other expensive equipment such as expensive cameras and telescopes in solving his cases. Of course, all of these expensive toys are kept secure by Higgins, and Magnum often finds himself on the wrong end of Higgins's hard bargaining to secure their loan. Although Magnum Higgins's are chalk and cheese, they build a friendship on mutual respect.

Two of Magnum's former Vietnam buddies live and work nearby. T.C. Calvin owns Island Hoppers, a helicopter tour company, and Rick Wright manages an exclusive beach front club, The King Kamehameha Club,. T.C.'s piloting skills and Rick's shady underworld contacts often get them involved in Magnum's adventures.

Like Charlie from the show Charlies Angels, the mysterious Robin Masters was never seen on screen, his voice was provided by the legendary  Orson Welles.

Orson Welles was not the only guest star on the show, over the course of the 7 seasons some truly huge stars appeared on the show, here are just a few names. Our own Jenney Agutter, Rockford's dad Noah Beery Jr, Carol Burnett, Ted Danson (Cheers), Tyne Daly (Cagney & Lacey), Dr Who aka Peter Davison, Shannen Doherty (Beverly hills 90201, Enrnest Borgnone (Airwolf), Morgan Fairchild, Jose and Miguel Ferrer, Robert Ito (Quincy M.E.), Angele Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher, Cesar Romero, Frank Sinatra, Sharon Stone, Dennis Weaver (Mcloud),

The show was a huge hit, with the first five seasons consistently reaching the top 20 shows in the U.S. Magnum PI was probably the first major hit show to portray vietnam veterans in a positive light and was widely applauded for being the first to recognize the difficulty veterans, not only of the Vietnam War but also WWII experience adjusting to civilian life.

No less famous than the characters were the cars Magnum got to drive, he had a choice between a beautiful Ferrari 308 GTS and Audi 5000 C2 and GMC Jimmy or Jeep Wagoneer.

The series won many awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes for Selleck and Hillerman. And is still broadcast around the world.