Hudson & Rex

Hudson & Rex is a Canadian police procedural drama television series, based on the Austrian-Italian drama Kommissar Rex. Detective Charlie Hudson is a policeman in the Major Crimes Division of the Saint John's Police Department. Hudson's partner Rex is a German Shepherd K-9 law enforcement animal who is not a pet.
It premiered on Citytv on March 25, 2019. Filming commenced in October 2018, with ongoing production in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Season two premiered on September 24, 2019. In June 2020, it was announced on Breakfast Television that season three would begin production in July 2020, ensuring to work within provincial public health guidelines in respect to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. Season three premiered on January 5, 2021. Season four premiered on October 21, 2021. Season 5 was released in October 2022. The popular series made another successful run for season six. Hudson & Rex was renewed for a seventh season on June 12, 2024, and began airing on January 14, 2025. It is unknown if an eighth season will be produced, but the nephews of the original canine star took over the leading role starting in episode 3 of season 7 after the death of Diesel in August 2024. Reardon was also absent for the majority of season 7 while recovering from tonsil cancer.
Detective Charlie Hudson is a major crimes detective of the fictional St. John's Police Department. Hudson grew up reading mystery novels and as a result always wanted to be a police detective. He is partnered with a German Shepherd dog in the K9 unit after his human partner, Constable Grace Lindsay, was killed while pursuing a kidnapper. Standard operating procedure for K9 officers whose human partners have died is for the dog to be retired. If a dog became unstable, it was possible that he would be euthanized after an official assessment. Rex passed the assessment with flying colors. Rex has other gifts that make him a great asset to the Major Crimes unit. That includes comforting people in distress, tracking scents, and sniffing out drugs, weapons, electronics and blood. Rex's keen nose and ears are instrumental in helping Detective Hudson advance the investigations in each episode. The duo receives assistance from Superintendent Joseph Donovan, Forensics Chief Sarah Truong, and Information Technology (IT) Specialist Jesse Mills every episode in gathering and interpreting evidence.
The first season begins some time after Hudson has arrived back in St. John's, his hometown, following a divorce from his wife. The first case for the series is a kidnapping. Most of the episodes feature different murders, each with unique twists. The background story of the teaming of Hudson and Rex is presented as the season three premiere episode.
Seasons one and two combined have a total of 32 episodes according to distributor Beta. Season one filmed a total of 16 episodes but the last three episodes of season one became the first three episodes of season two. Season two also filmed 16 episodes.
The first six episodes of season one reached more than 2.5 million viewers in Canada. In the 2019–2020 time period, Hudson & Rex was Citytv's highest-rated original scripted series.
Reviewer Rob Buckley, writing for The Medium Is Not Enough, criticized the writing and direction and described the show as "for the most part unwatchable, tedious".
Hudson & Rex premiered March 25, 2019, on Canada's Citytv with season one planned for 16 episodes. However, only the first 13 episodes were used for season one. The remaining three episodes were broadcast as part of season two. Seven seasons have been produced and broadcast as of 2025.
International
Besides in Canada, Hudson & Rex has aired in the following countries (listed alphabetically): Armenia, Australia, Brazil, China (Hong Kong), Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom, (UK), United States (USA and Puerto Rico USA), and Uruguay. It had been shown in over 100 countries and territories by 2020.
Beta Film has the international English distribution rights for Hudson & Rex. Broadcaster RAI will begin showing episodes in Italy on Rai 3.
In Germany with TNT Serie and Latin America with the Belleville Group.
In Armenia, since September 30, 2022, Armenian Public TV airs the show.
It has also been distributed in: France with France Televisions via Mediawan Rights, Lithuania with LRT, in Latvia with LTV, Uruguay with Channel 12, and Greece with ANT1.
In Romania, the series started airing on the channel Diva on September 3, 2019.
In the Netherlands, the show airs on FOX.
NBC Universal secured rights for Eastern Europe and Africa.
As of July 2020, the show is being broadcast in the Czech Republic on Televize Prima.
All six seasons are being broadcast on the Alibi TV channel in the UK which shows fictional and non-fictional crime series.
As of January 2021, the show is being broadcast in Slovakia on Jednotka.
In Switzerland (Private Channel 5+) began broadcasting Hudson & Rex in 2024.
In Denmark, the show airs on TV2 Charlie.
In the United States, the series airs on broadcast network Ion Plus, and cable network Up. Seasons 1-5 were also shown on Amazon Prime Video. Telemundo shows the series in Spanish in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.
Diesel vom Burgimwald (Rex) is a 15th generation descendant of the first German Shepherd to star in the Kommissar Rex (Inspector Rex), the Austrian-Italian television series in the 1990s on which Hudson & Rex is based. German Shepherd dogs Izzy and Iko, are nephews of Diesel, and are his stand-ins for some of the stunts. Diesel vom Burgimwald had mobility training before being cast as Rex. This is Diesel's first show according to his owner-handler Sherri Davis, and training continues on non-shooting days in preparation for future scripts. While on set, Diesel has full star treatment with his own trailer, chef, and chauffeur. Diesel and his character Rex became an honorary firefighter with the St. John's Regional Fire Department (SJRFD) in the filming of the episode "Fast Eddie's".
While news of his death was released in February 2025, Diesel vom Burgimwald (Rex) passed away from cancer in August 2024, during the filming of Season 7. His nephews, Dillon and Dante, who were already acting as "stand-ins" for Diesel, succeeded him in the role. Izzy and Iko continue to perform stunts on the show.
Hudson and Rex films at various locations across the City of St. John's, most prominently on the Memorial University of Newfoundland campus. The Bruneau Centre (formerly the Inco Centre) doubles as the headquarters for the fictional St. John's Police Department, while the rest of the campus has been used to portray the equally fictional Heritage University of Newfoundland and Labrador.