Inspector Rex

The series was created by Peter Hajek and Peter Moser, with production beginning in 1993 and the show first airing on Austrian television in 1994.

Gedeon Burkhard, who later played the second lead detective Alexander Brandtner, first appeared in the show as a guest star playing the murderer Stefan Lanz in the season one episode 'Amok'.

During the filming of that guest episode, the crew noticed that the dog actor playing Rex worked exceptionally well with Burkhard, which led to Burkhard later being cast as the new main detective.

Future lead actors Alexander Pschill and Elke Winkens both appeared in earlier seasons as guest stars playing one-off characters before eventually becoming permanent cast members.

Rex was portrayed over the years by several different dogs, including Santo vom Haus Zieglmayer (nicknamed 'Beejay') and his double Rhett Butler, who took over the lead role in 2000; later the Italian version used a dog named Henry and then one named Nicky.

The Vienna-set seasons were filmed on location at famous city landmarks such as the Haas-Haus, the Secession building, the Natural History Museum, the Stadtpark, the UNO-City, and the Vienna sewer system, referencing the same locations used in 'The Third Man'.

Tobias Moretti, who played the first detective Richard Moser, made several nude appearances in the series, including an episode where his character and a female colleague pretend to be a couple in the woods to lure a serial killer.

The original Austrian seasons attracted over 10 million viewers at their peak, and the show's broadcasting rights were eventually sold to television stations in more than 107 countries.

After moving production to Rome in 2008, the new Italian-language version met with criticism from the Italian consumer association, which felt the show had lost its charm compared to the original Vienna setting and imitated American crime series conventions like flashbacks and static camera work.

The Canadian adaptation Hudson & Rex features German Shepherd dogs that are all descended from Santo (the original Rex actor) and his great-grandsire VA5 Elch vom Trienzbachtal.