| Kommissar Rex | |
|---|---|
| Format | Police drama |
| Created by | Peter Hajek Peter Moser |
| Starring | see Characters |
| Opening theme | A Good Friend(First 10 (8) Seasons) My Friend Rex (Season 11 (9)-present) |
| Ending theme | My Name is Rex (Season 11 (9)-present) |
| Country of origin | Austria, Italy |
| Language(s) | Viennese German, Italian |
| No. of episodes | 119 (First 10 (8) Seasons) 55 (Season 11 (9)-present) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Peter Hajek Jan Mojto |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ORF, Sat.1, RAI |
| Original run | November 10, 1994 – present |
Kommissar Rex (English title: Inspector Rex, Italian title: Il commissario Rex) is a popular Austrian-made police television drama which aired from 1994 to 2004. In 2007 a new series was released (Season 11), under Austrian-Italian production. From February 18, 2008, the 12th season was shot in Rome. Austrian television broadcaster ORF announced the production of a movie for the 12th season which is to be set in Vienna.[1][2][3]
The original series is set in Vienna and focuses on the three-man staff of an office of the Kriminalpolizei - the Austrian Criminal Police - specifically a Mordkommission, or Murder Commission. In addition to the three policemen, the office is staffed by a German Shepherd called Rex who functions variously as a cadaver dog, a sniffer dog (for both contraband and narcotics) and as another pair of eyes and ears for his team.
The original team at the office consisted of Richard Moser, Ernst Stockinger and Peter Höllerer. This team was also assisted by forensic expert Dr Leo Graf and retired policeman Max Koch. Later arrivals included Christian Böck replacing Stockinger, Alexander Brandtner replacing Moser and former statistics officer Fritz Kunz replacing Höllerer. An even later incarnation of the series featured a male-female duo of the clumsy Marc Hoffmann and a female officer Nikki Herzog working alongside Kunz. Dr. Graf is the only character not to have departed the show.
The show is scripted entirely in German, most characters speak with Austrian dialects and is shot on location in Vienna and its surroundings, though the usage of areas in production is often geographically incorrect. Subtitles are used for some international markets, while in others the series is dubbed. In some of the show's popular international markets, such as Australia, the show is considered to have had 8 seasons instead of 10. This is due to differences in network broadcasting schedules as they have chosen to join two of the shorter seasons into one. It is also the case for the Region 4 DVD release and it has caused minor confusion amongst fans of the show.
Many actors play different characters in different episodes of the series, with one of the more striking examples of this being Gedeon Burkhard playing a villain who mistakenly thought he was infected with HIV and proceeded to murder the other members of his orgy club, in an early episode before returning as Brandtner. Alexander Pschill appeared as a crash repair mechanic who blackmails a customer whose car has been damaged in a fatal hit-and-run accident in season 2, before portraying Marc Hoffmann several years later.
Starting from season 11, the action moves to Rome, with inspector Lorenzo Fabbri taking charge of the dog. The show is now shot in both Italian and German. At the end of the season, Rex is apparently mortally wounded when he jumps on Fabbri's head to protect him from a bullet, but is shown in close-up still slightly breathing just before credits roll. The beginning of season 12 shows that Rex survived the bullet, when Fabbri takes Rex to the Animal Hospital.
A trained police dog, Rex (revealed in the Pilot to be registered as "Reginald von Ravenhorst") is the legitimate star of the show. Establishing shots frequently show him demonstrating a new trick - unlatching doors, pushing trolleys, pointing to drugs or corpses - which then turn out to be useful in the course of the episode. He is often used to stalk suspects, often with a GPS-type object attached to him so that the officers can keep track.
Rex was stolen by criminals as a pup, but managed to escape and befriend a boy, where he helped to solve his first case with the boy.
Initially, Rex and Moser share an apartment at Marrokanergasse 18, Wien-Landstraße, however the pair go house-hunting quite early in the series. The house they eventually find is owned by a man who does not want dogs there, however Rex is able to alert him to a gas leak and in gratitude he allows Moser and Rex to stay.
Rex is frequently called upon to resolve difficult situations, including helping a young girl in shock, preventing a woman from committing suicide and helping to get Moser's mobile phone when a crime has been committed. One famous episode features Moser using Rex to resolve a hostage situation by telling him to creep up behind the criminal and "frighten him" (following Rex's earlier success at frightening Stockinger by jumping on him from behind).
There is also a considerable element of humour in Rex's activities. He constantly annoys Stockinger by pulling on his coat and stealing his ham rolls. Later, Höllerer keeps a running score of Böck's success against Rex - not a flattering result for the officer. While not chasing criminals, he often plays pranks on the officers or fails to obey orders to help with the housework.
Rex reacts particularly badly to words like "Frau" (woman) and, later, "Tierarzt" (vet), as he disapproves of his masters' attention to women. During a scene in which Koch claims that Moser "doesn't understand women at all now", Moser tells Koch, "Don't say that word. Every time you say 'woman' he [Rex] runs off with my laundry". Koch asks him what Rex does with it, to which Moser replies, "He washes it". Later, after the departure of the vet, Moser is working undercover and needs to ensure Rex won't greet him. He tells Stockinger, "You only need to say 'vet' to him and he'll stop whatever he's doing", a statement which results in a memorable scene involving Stockinger walking after Rex at a crime scene calling out "Vet! Vet!"
Rex has an uncanny penchant for ham rolls, or "Wurstsemmeln" in the local dialect. He is introduced to them by Moser, who tells him, "I practically live on these".
Rex has to date been played by three dogs. Until 2000, he was played by Santo vom Haus Zieglmayer, also known as 'Beejay', and was then replaced by Rhett Butler. For the 2008 revival, Rex is played by a dog named Henry.
The first "team leader", Richard "Richie" Moser is a hard-bitten cop who, as the first season begins, is going through a bitter divorce from his wife Gina, who takes all their furniture. Moser is also attempting to quit smoking, due to medical problems to do with his circulation. An ex-truck driver, Moser credits Max Koch with keeping him from a life of crime, at one point telling Koch that "I'd be on the wrong side of the law too, just like him", referring to a young pickpocket he has just chased through central Vienna.
Moser has befriended Rex after Rex's former police trainer, Michael, was shot and killed by an escaping suspect, and, in order to save the dog from being put down, has "adopted" him without ever completing any of the official paperwork. He famously declares at one point, "My taxes pay for this dog, so why can't I give him a better home?"
Being a bachelor, Moser flirts with many of the attractive women featured in the storylines. However, with the exception of a brief and work-interrupted relationship with his local vet (of which Rex thoroughly disapproves), he forms no permanent romantic attachment.
As Moser's personal life improves, his sense of humour returns. This is noticeable in the general lightening in the tone of the show from the initial episodes ("Diagnosis Murder" being a prime example) to ones with more light-hearted banter among the officers.
In the final scenes of the movie Inspector Rex: Moser's Death, Moser is killed in the line of duty by an escaped 'border-line psychopath' played by famous German actor Ulrich Tukur (Das Leben der Anderen) while Moser is rescuing his lover, Patricia Neuhold (a psychologist who has been helping with the case). The escapee commits suicide just after he kills Moser, and Rex shows almost-human emotion over Moser's body at the hospital.
Alex Brandtner replaces Moser as team leader. Following Moser's death, Rex has become depressed and refuses to eat, wanting to stay near Moser's house all the time. However, Brandtner succeeds in helping Rex out of his depression. Brandtner had lost his former dog, Arko, in a bomb explosion, while also injuring his own left ear, and does not want to work with dogs again, until he meets Rex. The explosion has also robbed him of his hearing in his right ear, a fact he confides only to Rex. Brandtner moves into the house that Moser and Rex used to share, apparently because Rex does not want to leave.
Compared to Moser, Brandtner is shown to be more athletic and performs various physical stunts throughout the series, such as diving over car bonnets, engaging in fast-paced chases on foot and dives. His living room is filled with boxing and fitness gear and he is portrayed as very attractive to women.
He had once gone undercover in a prison and also as a drunken homeless man, for instance. On his first appearance in the show, he dives into the Danube Canal to retrieve a vital piece of evidence, and later in his debut episode he parachutes from a light aircraft, along with Rex, in order to apprehend a suspect. He also seems to have an uncanny instinct for sensing if a suspect is guilty or innocent, even without evidence.
During the time Burkhard was on the show, the international ratings for the series increased.
Burkhard's looks were also exploited by the producers of the show. In one episode, a bank burglar that Brandtner had once caught re-offended again after being released, and managed to take him hostage during the climactic confrontation. He then forced Brandtner to strip to prove that he was unarmed, before parading him through the street in only his underwear. When taunted about how he felt, Brandtner said "sexy".
Replacing Brandtner as team leader, Hoffmann is a very eager detective. Hoffmann is portrayed as being very witty, outsmarting murderers. He is also portrayed as being stouter, yet more muscular in comparison to Brandtner and Moser; in one instance he is shown doing various workouts. He shares a close relationship with Niki Herzog, and they soon live together, but sometimes have disagreements.
Apparently Hoffmann had studied forensic science under Graf, and the two men still seem to share a somewhat master-student relationship, with Hoffmann often deferring to Graf's judgement (where Brandtner and Moser had previously not always done so).
In series 11, Rex moves to Rome. His new partner is Italian homicide detective, Chief Inspector Lorenzo Fabbri. He seems to understand the Italian language quite easily. In the second episode of season 14 (entitled "In the Wolves' Lair") Fabbri dies in the explosion of a car during a trap prepared by a Mafia boss.
Davide Rivera replaces Fabbri as team leader.
The "straight man" to Rex - and, increasingly, Moser - Ernst Stockinger ("Stocki" for short) is a character who becomes much more likeable as his part in the series develops. Stockinger is thin and always has a very serious demeanour. In later episodes, this is revealed as a cover for his schemes to outsmart Rex, who seems to instinctively want to associate with (or tease) him. Stockinger is by no means a dog lover.
Stockinger is married and uses his marriage to jokingly claim expertise over Moser in regard to women. Frequently, when a case hinges on the behaviour of a female witness or suspect, Stockinger gently tells Moser, "Richard, since your divorce, you've lost your touch with women". Stockinger's wife, it seems, is not greatly pleased with her husband's choice of career at times, and Moser often reminds him of this.
Another of Stockinger's idiosyncrasies is his constant references to surgery which has been performed on him - most likely for stomach ulcers. He seems to delight in telling stories about this surgery at the most inappropriate moments, such as when the others are about to eat.
Eventually, Stockinger is transferred to Salzburg and leaves the series. In this final episode, Rex saves Stockinger by leaping across a classroom just as a disgruntled divorced man was about to stab Stockinger in the throat during an attempted kidnapping attempt on his child. Moser, in a farewell speech, jokingly tells Stocki that, "You have been a bad cop, a bad man, and not at all a good friend". Stockinger later features in a spin-off TV special Stockinger, featuring him at his new police department. He is replaced by Christian Böck.
The obese Peter Höllerer is a constant source of comic relief in the series. Generally found ensconced behind his desk working the phones, his face visibly falls whenever Moser and Stockinger (or, later, Brandtner and Böck) require him to do fieldwork. That said, he is capable of surprising speed when running and can also demonstrate driving skills the equal of the other officers.
Höllerer tends to take a co-ordinating role when an operation is being planned, rather than actually going undercover or making the arrest himself. In these situations, he reveals himself to have a very clear head and to be capable of dealing with the most unusual contingencies which tend to manifest themselves where his partners are concerned.
Höllerer has a soft spot for Rex as the series progresses, after first voicing concern that Moser did not adopt him through the proper channels. This is shown by his keeping score between Böck and Rex in the early episodes featuring the former. Höllerer takes inordinate delight in seeing the dog outsmarting the man.
Höllerer's departure from the series is brought about by his retirement to care for his ailing mother, a woman about whom he often speaks. He is replaced by Fritz Kunz.
Of all the recurring characters in the series, Höllerer's accent is the thickest. Viewers familiar with standard German will often have difficulty understanding his Viennese dialect.
Böck is first introduced as a somewhat suspicious-looking character, a member of a borderline-illegal car club who is not even trusted by his club mates. During the course of his investigation into this club, Moser begins to suspect Böck, but he turns out to be an undercover policeman making similar investigations.
The two eventually combine to solve the relevant case, and Moser convinces Böck to transfer to his team. Böck's undercover skills are largely ignored after the transfer, but his personable manner proves an advantage when it comes to interrogations (particularly contrasting with the somewhat dour Moser). By the time of Brandtner's arrival, Böck's youth and athleticism have resulted in his frequently being involved in chasing criminals on foot. The dynamic between Böck and Kunz forms an almost constant source of comic relief. Most notable in this is their dialogue when trying to establish the angle from which a witness would have seen a certain event - each man speaks at cross-purposes to the other and both end up totally confused. Böck and Rex share a rivalry, with Böck trying to outsmart Rex, but Rex wins nearly all the time. Böck is also one of the few who question Rex's abilities as an elite police dog, but Moser keeps telling him that he has always been this way.
Replacing Höllerer after the latter's retirement to care for his mother, Kunz has been drawn from the statistics section of the force. Initially he is very much out of place in the slightly freer atmosphere of Brandtner's office. A running gag in his early appearances deals with his obsessive-compulsiveness and fussy attention to the placement of his desk stationery (e.g., pencils arranged from tallest to shortest and paper clips aligned) only to have Rex or one of the others move everything around.
Kunz's background in statistics is also often the source of amusement, as he is seemingly able to deliver, from memory, obscure statistical information about the activities of criminals. He tends to be used to man the phones during investigations, rather than on active duty. However, he is also occasionally required to go undercover (once as a kitchen hand, another time as a stable hand and another as an entertainer in a street market), much to his chagrin.
The only female officer in the history of the show, Herzog is paired with Hoffmann (Kunz is almost entirely desk-bound in this incarnation of the series), and sexual tension constantly results. The pair spend the night together, before starting their new jobs, without realising that they are both police officers. They soon share a house (with Rex) and are often disturbed in the middle of a romantic moment with news of a case.
In contrast to Hoffmann, Herzog tends to be more level-headed and capable of performing physical acts. Her physical appearance also serves the team well in relating to suspects, as she is frequently underestimated and sometimes taunted by brash male criminals.
Morini is a colleague of Lorenzo Fabbri and they work on every crime together. Rex does not obey Morini at all, however in one episode he takes care of Rex because Fabbri has broken his ankle. At the beginning of the 14th season he is transferred to Milan and leaves the series.
Alberto Monterosso replaces Morini.
Dr Leo Graf is the forensic pathologist consulted by the detectives. On occasion, he is found at the crime scene itself, however he is normally to be found in his pathology laboratory, and occasionally comes into the police office. Gerhard Zemann is the only actor to appear as the same character throughout the long-running series.
Dr Graf is a sometimes prickly personality, but underneath this exterior he has a very dry wit - frequently regaling the detectives against their will with the gruesome details of a murder.
Naturally he is quite comfortable in his lab, surrounded by dead bodies, even if others are not. Many of the earlier episodes highlight the contrasting reactions of the policemen (especially Moser and Stockinger) and Graf to the death all around them.
At times, however, Dr Graf clearly resents the pressure put on him by the policemen. One memorable telephone exchange involves Moser agreeing to pay Dr Graf a number of Cuban cigars for working on the weekend. Another time, Graf's car is towed while he is investigating a murder scene. The resulting invective he uses towards the authorities responsible is caustic, to say the least.
Where Graf is very amiable towards Moser's team, this relationship progressively changes as Brandtner arrives. Early episodes featuring Brandtner show Alex and Leo using formal language - generally involving the German "Sie" form of address (the polite form). Eventually, this exterior is broken down and the new team is invited to call him Leo - a sign of considerable familiarity in German or Austrian society. Accordingly, Brandtner's greeting to Graf alters from the formal "Guten Morgen" to the more familiar "Servus".
With Hoffmann and Herzog, however, the relationship with Graf is more of a teacher-student one. It emerges early that Hoffmann had been taught forensic techniques by Graf, and it is clear that some of the awe felt by the considerably younger policeman for his mentor is still present. Graf also assumes a much more advisory role with this team, appearing only once during each investigation instead of being constantly on call.
By the time Rex moves to Rome with Lorenzo Fabbri of the Italian police, Dr Graf still serves as Vienna's main forensic officer as seen in a Rex special as Rex and Fabbri return to Vienna to investigate a case there.
Familiarly known to all as Max, Koch is a retired policeman who saved Moser from a life of crime and became something of a mentor to him. Many early episodes feature Moser asking Koch for advice - often in a café or a pool hall. It is, in fact, advice from Koch which is responsible for solving many of the more baffling cases, as his insights into human psychology - particularly female psychology (something he often claims Moser has had no knowledge of since his divorce) - prove correct.
Max is also occasionally asked to look after Rex, and Rex seems to be comfortable with him.
As the series progresses, Koch's role alters to that of being a useful spy for Moser in certain situations where his team is too well-known. It is Koch's visit to a restaurant which provides the breakthrough in one case. In another he stumbles upon the solution to a particularly brutal homicide while sitting in a park with Rex. Koch is increasingly reluctant help with Moser's work, although he is always told that this will be the last time. As Stockinger points out, it always is the last time...until the next request. Moser also tries to appeal to Koch's sense of adventure which, as Max famously explains, is satisfied by eating goulash and not knowing if he will suffer from "Rinderwahnsinn" (Mad Cow Disease).
Following Stockinger's transfer to Salzburg, Koch assists the team to reorganise the office. His snide remarks about Stockinger's files result in Höllerer telling him to read through them all (to which Koch responds that he's doing more work since he retired than he did when he worked). He also spreads out his pipe collection on Stocki's old desk and declares that he will "open a pipe shop" while the team attempts to find a replacement for Stocki.
Katia Martelli is the forensics officer in Rome. She is seen as a romantic interest for Fabbri, but Rex is opposed to this. She is always looking for opportunities to seduce him. At one point, when Fabbri is injured and is at home researching a murder related to role playing games on his computer, he asks for a gaming police officer to be sent to his house to brief him about computer game culture. Martelli takes this opportunity to enter his house and try and woo him, and creates a RPG profile for him so he can befriend the suspects online—the figure she chooses for him is a model of Fabbri wearing only a towel.
Morini constantly goads Martelli and Fabbri into being a couple. After one case is solved, Fabbri takes her home to wine and dine her, much to Rez's chagrin. At the start of the next episode, they drunkenly awake in Fabbri's bed.
Filippo Gori is Fabbri's boss who hates Rex when they first meet, and vows to eject him for being unauthorised. Eventually, he accepts that Rex can solve crimes and lets him stay; this came after Rex and Fabbri had brought down a prostitution and sex slave racket run by some illegal Chinese immigrants—Fabbri leaked the story to a journalist friend so that Rex was photographed on the front page of a newspaper. In the episode "A Man Alone" his partner is murdered. Although all limited evidence points to Gori, Fabbri proves that he is not the culprit.
Filippo is Morini's fish. Morini got a fish because he was jealous of Lorenzo. Morini does not realize that he has named his fish after his boss, so when Gori comes in he says his fish is called Filiberto.
| 01 | Last Stop Vienna |
| 02 | The Perfect Murder |
| 03 | Escape To Death |
| 04 | The Old Lady Murders |
| 05 | Dance On The Volcano |
| 06 | Murder in Schönbrunn |
| 07 | Diagnosis Murder |
| 08 | A Most Pleasant Establishment |
| 09 | Amok |
| 10 | First Prize |
| 11 | Deadly Teddies |
| 12 | Bring me Beethoven's Head |
| 13 | Under The Streets Of Vienna |
| 14 | Target Rex |
| 15 | Silent Screams |
| 16 | Traces Of Blood |
| 17 | Murderous Summer |
| 18 | Deadly Seduction |
| 19 | Masked Death |
| 20 | The Blind Witness |
| 21 | Dangerous Hunt |
| 22 | Death Of A Child |
| 23 | The Sign Of Satan |
| 24 | The Scent Of Death |
| 25 | Kidnapped |
| 26 | Deadly Doses |
| 27 | Three Seconds To Death |
| 28 | Over The Rooftops Of Vienna |
| 29 | Stocki's Last Case |
| 30 | Deadly Race |
| 31 | City In Fear |
| 32 | Death In The Museum |
| 33 | Lethal Passion |
| 34 | Anna's Secret |
| 35 | The Doll Murderer |
| 36 | Under Hypnosis |
| 37 | Hunt For A Corpse |
| 38 | Why Did Romeo Die |
| 39 | Angel On Four Paws |
| 40 | Murder à la carte |
| 41 | Blood Red Roses |
| 42 | Buried Alive |
| 43 | Death Of A Student |
| 44 | A Murderous Plan |
| 45 | Moser's Death |
| 46 | The New Guy |
| 47 | The Man With A Thousand Faces |
| 48 | The Conspiracy |
| 49 | Deadly Passion |
| 50 | Stolen Happiness |
| 51 | Revenge |
| 52 | The Voyeur |
| 53 | The Last Match |
| 54 | Dangerous Mission |
| 55 | The Hit List |
| 56 | Terrible Truth |
| 57 | Priest In Danger |
| 58 | The Loser |
| 59 | Treacherous Love |
| 60 | Rex's Revenge |
| 61 | Blind Rage |
| 62 | Poisonous Gas |
| 63 | Deadly Secrets |
| 64 | The Will |
| 65 | Murderous Toys |
| 66 | The Hunt |
| 67 | Sisi |
| 68 | Full Power |
| 69 | Children On The Run |
| 70 | Baby In Danger |
| 71 | Telephone Terror |
| 72 | Ice Cold |
| 73 | Brother Murder |
| 74 | Deadly Tarot |
| 75 | The Full Moon Murderer |
| 76 | The Dead One Returns |
| 77 | Death By Internet |
| 78 | Quest For Eternal Life |
| 79 | The Million Dollar Horse |
| 80 | In The Last Second |
| 81 | The Baby Dealer |
| 82 | Beautiful Death |
| 83 | The Bluff |
| 84 | A Dead Certain Trap |
| 85 | Deadly Test |
| 86 | Obsessed |
| 87 | The Girl And The Murderer |
| 88 | Death Came Twice |
| 89 | Jets Of Revenge |
| 90 | Don't Kiss The Policeman |
| 91 | Cheat At The Bar |
| 92 | Straight To Death |
| 93 | Four Legged Witness |
| 94 | When Children Want To Die |
| 95 | Up To The Last Bullet |
| 96 | The Acts Of The Dead |
| 97 | Someone Dies Every Time |
| 98 | Blonde, Pretty - Dead |
| 99 | Happy Birthday |
| 100 | In Love With A Murderer |
| 101 | Famous At Any Price |
| 102 | The Mummy's Curse |
| 103 | The Attempted Assassination Of Rex |
| 104 | Why Must Children Suffer |
| 105 | Ettrich's Pigeons |
| 106 | Vitamins For Dying |
| 107 | A Night At The Hospital |
| 108 | The Danube Crocodile |
| 109 | Death Behind Bars |
| 110 | Nina At Midnight |
| 111 | Snapshot |
| 112 | The Corpse Lived On |
| 113 | Witches And Other Women |
| 114 | A Dead Man And A Baby |
| 115 | His Last Sunday |
| 116 | E-mail From The Murderer |
| 117 | Man With No Memory |
| 118 | Finally The Beast Is Dead |
| 119 | Doping |
| 120 | A new beginning |
| 121 | 7.65 Millimeter |
| 122 | Chinese Shadows |
| 123 | A Deadly Review |
| 124 | The beautiful appearance |
| 125 | Motherly Love |
| 126 | In Vino Veritas |
| 127 | Far Away From Here |
| 128 | A Life in Peril |
| 129 | Death Among the Dolphins |
| 130 | The School of Fear |
| 131 | Family Matters |
| 132 | Mama Will Always Be Mama |
| 133 | Masquerade |
| 134 | The Last Bet |
| 135 | A Man Alone |
| 136 | The Colour of Silence |
| 137 | The Graverobber |
| 138 | The Final Match |
| 139 | The Champion |
| 140 | Centaurs |
| 141 | The Howling |
| 142 | My Band Plays Rock |
| 143 | The Nick of Time |
| 144 | Good Boys |
| 145 | Cat's Eyes |
| 146 | The Names of the Stars |
| 147 | Cold Case |
| 148 | Music Please Maestro |
| 149 | The Girl Who Vanished |
| 150 | The Curse of Caravaggio |
| 151 | Risen from the Grave |
| 152 | In the Wolves' Lair |
| 153 | Games under the Counter |
| 154 | A Promise from the Past |
| 155 | Vendetta |
| 156 | Deep Blue |
| 157 | The House of the Ghosts |
| 158 | All in One Night |
| 159 | A Life for a Life |
| 160 | The Third Man |
| 161 | Flags at Half-Mast |
| 162 | Imperfect Symphony |
| 163 | The Tiger |
| 164 | Hero |
| 165 | Near-Perfect Crime |
| 166 | Explosive Pipe |
| 167 | Voice in a Crowd |
| 168 | Intruder |
| 169 | Two Men and a Baby |
| 170 | Shot in the Heart |
| 171 | Blackout |
| 172 | An Attempt |
| 173 | Blood Ties |
| 174 | In Cold Blood |
Kommissar Rex has been shown in the following countries:
| Country | Title | Translation | Network | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Comisario Rex | Inspector Rex | The Film Zone | Latin American Spanish dubbing |
| Austria | Kommissar Rex | Inspector Rex | ORF | Original German language |
| Australia | Inspector Rex | Inspector Rex | SBS network | German, English subtitles |
| Belgium | Rex, chien flic | Rex, police-dog | vtm RTL-TVI |
German + Dutch subtitles, French dubbing |
| Brazil | Comissário Rex | Inspector Rex | Multishow Band |
Brazilian Portuguese dubbing + subtitles |
| Bulgaria | Комисар Рекс | Inspector Rex | BNT Channel 1 Diema NovaTv |
Bulgarian dubbing |
| Canada Quebec |
Rex | Rex | Séries+ | Quebec French dubbing |
| Chile | Comisario Rex | Inspector Rex | Chilevisión The Film Zone |
Latin American Spanish dubbing |
| Colombia | Comisario Rex | Inspector Rex | Canal Caracol Citytv Bogotá The Film Zone |
Latin American Spanish dubbing |
| Croatia | Inspektor Rex | Inspector Rex | HRT, Nova TV | German, Croatian subtitles |
| Cyprus | Υπαστυνόμος Ρεξ | Sergeant Rex | Sigma TV | Greek dubbing |
| Czech Republic | Komisař Rex | Inspector Rex | Prima network TV Nova |
Czech dubbing |
| Denmark | Kommissær Rex | Inspector Rex | TV 2 Charlie | German, Danish subtitles |
| Dominican Republic | Comisario Rex | Inspector Rex | The Film Zone | Latin American Spanish dubbing |
| Estonia | Komissar Rex | Inspector Rex | Kanal 2 | German, Estonian subtitles |
| Finland | Poliisikoira Rex | Police-dog Rex | Nelonen Sub |
German, Finnish subtitles |
| France | Rex, chien flic | Rex, police-dog | France 2 | French dubbing |
| Germany | Kommissar Rex | Inspector Rex | Sat 1 ZDF |
Original German language |
| Greece | Υπαστυνόμος Ρεξ | Police lieutenant Rex | Alpha Alter Skai TV |
Greek dubbing |
| Hungary | Rex felügyelő | Inspector Rex | TV2 | Hungarian dubbing |
| Iceland | Lögregluhundurinn Rex | Rex the police-dog | Sjónvarpið | German, Icelandic subtitles |
| Israel | קומיסר רקס | Commissar Rex | Israel Plus | Russian dubbing |
| Italy | Il commissario Rex (seasons 1-10) Rex (seasons 11-...) |
Inspector Rex Rex |
RAI1 | Italian dubbing |
| Iran | Bazras va Rex | Inspector and Rex | IRIB | Persian dubbing |
| Japan | ＲＥＸ～ウィーン警察シェパード犬刑事～ | Rex - Vienna Police Shepherd Dog Inspector | Mystery Channel | German, Japanese subtitles |
| Latvia | Komisārs Reksis | Inspector Rex | LTV1 LNT |
Latvian voice-over |
| Lithuania | Komisaras Reksas | Inspector Rex | BTV LTV |
Lithuanian voice-over |
| Macedonia | Комесарот Рекс (Komesarot Reks) | Inspector Rex | A1 | German, Macedonian subtitles |
| Mexico | Comisario Rex | Inspector Rex | The Film Zone TVC (no longer as of 2009) |
Latin American Spanish dubbing |
| Netherlands | Commissaris Rex | Inspector Rex | RTL Netherlands | German, Dutch subtitles |
| New Zealand | Inspector Rex | Inspector Rex | TV One (New Zealand) | German, English subtitles |
| Norway | Rex | Rex | TV2 | German, Norwegian subtitles |
| Poland | Komisarz Rex | Inspector Rex | TV 4 TVP1 |
Polish voice-over |
| Portugal | Rex, o cão polícia | Rex, Police-dog | SIC | German, Portuguese subtitles |
| Romania | Comisarul Rex | Commissioner Rex | Prima TV | |
| Russia | Комиссар Рекс | Inspector Rex | RTR, STS, M1 (First Moscow), Domashny, DTV-Viasat | Russian multi-voice voice-over |
| Slovakia | Komisár Rex | Inspector Rex | TV Markiza | Slovak dubbing |
| Slovenia | Komisar Rex | Inspector Rex | Radiotelevizija Slovenija Kanal A |
German, Slovene subtitles |
| Spain | Rex: Un policía diferente | Rex, a different police officer | Antena 3 Telecinco Televisiones autonomicas de la FORTA |
Spanish dubbing |
| Sweden | Kommissarie Rex | Inspector Rex | TV4 Kanal 9 |
German, Swedish subtitles |
| Switzerland | Kommissar Rex Rex, chien flic Il commissario Rex |
Inspector Rex Rex, police-dog Inspector Rex |
DRS TSR RTSI |
Original German language French dubbing Italian dubbing |
| Turkey | Komiser Reks | Inspector Rex | Kanal 1 (Turkey) | Turkish dubbing |
| Ukraine | Комісар Рекс | Inspector Rex | Novyi Kanal STB |
Ukrainian dubbing |
| United Kingdom | Inspector Rex | Inspector Rex | Five | German, English subtitles |
| United States | Comisario Rex | Inspector Rex | V-me | Latin American Spanish dubbing |
| Uruguay | Comisario Rex | Inspector Rex | Monte Carlo TV Canal 4 | Latin American Spanish dubbing |
| Venezuela | Comisario Rex | Inspector Rex | The Film Zone Televen |
Latin American Spanish dubbing |
| Vietnam | Rex, chú chó thám tử | Rex, the detective dog | VTV | Vietnamese voice-over |
Inspector Rex is so popular in Australia on the SBS network that it has been parodied by the local comedy show, Newstopia, with a series of station advertisements for a fictional TV show called 'Inspektor Herring'. Supposedly featuring a crime-solving fish, Herring is usually shown out of water in scenes one usually expects to see in serious crime dramas. The final episode of Series 3 starts with Shaun announcing, "This is the last Newstopia, let's make it the best one ever", however this then turns into a half-hour episode of Inspektor Herring as a spoof "replacement programme" due to supposed technical difficulties.
| Role | Actor | France voice actors | Spain voice actors | Italy voice actors | Czech Republic voice actors | Slovakia voice actors | Hungary voice actors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Moser | Tobias Moretti | Joël Martineau | Jorge García Tomé | Andrea Ward | Ladislav Běhůnek | Alfréd Aczel | Haás Vander Péter |
| Alexander Brandtner | Gedeon Burkhard | Lionel Melet | Paco Cardona | Roberto Certomà | Luboš Ondráček | Pavol Višňovský | Viczián Ottó |
| Marc Hoffmann | Alexander Pschill | Éric Aubrahn | Alejandro Albaiceta | Vittorio Guerrieri | Martin Sláma | Martin Kaprálik | Selmeczi Roland |
| Niki Herzog | Elke Winkens | Sophie Gormezana | Gracia Carvajal | Barbara Berengo Gardin | Jana Štvrtecká | Renáta Rundová | Kisfalvi Krisztina |
| Ernst Stockinger | Karl Markovics | Patrick Préjean | Antonio Villar | Alberto Caneva | Aleš Jarý | Juraj Predmerský | Végh Péter |
| Peter Höllerer | Wolf Bachofner | Michel Lasorne | Daniel Palacios | Giuliano Santi | Zdeněk Dvořák | Ivan Laca | Gesztesi Károly |
| Christian Böck | Heinz Weixelbraun | Nicolas Marié | Luis Fernando Ríos | Roberto Draghetti | Ladislav Cigánek | Peter Marcin | Juhász György |
| Fritz Kunz | Martin Weinek | Pierre Laurent | Massimo Rinaldi | Bedřich Výtisk Zdeněk Bureš Jiří Prager |
Pavol Šajmovič | Németh Gábor | |
| Dr. Leo Graf | Gerhard Zemann | Francis Lax Dider Cherby |
Jesús Prieto | Goffredo Matassi | Zdeněk Bureš Milan Horský Jaroslav Kuneš |
Jozef Šimonovič | Orosz István |
| Max Koch | Fritz Muliar | Henry Djanik | Idilio Cardoso | Franco Chillemi | Jaroslav Dufek | Ivan Krivosudský | Tolnai Miklós |
In Australia, Region 4 English-subtitled DVDs of Kommissar Rex are currently available for all seasons. The Italian seasons of the show were released under the special title "Rex in Rome". Due to differences in episode numbering in some territories because of broadcast differences the Australian DVD release actually contains all the episodes of the show in 9, instead of 11, distinct television seasons, as this is how the show aired on SBS television (four short seasons were shown as two).
On 10 October 2007, a special DVD, "Rex By Request" was released featuring the five favourite Kommissar Rex episodes as voted by fans. Also included is an interview with producer/writer Peter Hajek and an hour-long dog-training segment featuring Rex and his trainer Teresa Ann Miller.[4]
Australian Releases:
The ninth (11th in some territories) season returned to air in 2008.
The new season sees Rex moved from Vienna to Rome and teamed up with an Italian detective. Kaspar Capparoni stars as Chief Inspector Lorenzo Fabbri, a homicide detective from Rome. He visits the Mordkommission office in Vienna, to discuss a cross-border murder case. He meets Kunz (the only character remaining from the previous series) and Rex, now officially retired but still allowed the run of the office, albeit with some reluctance from police administration. Rex and Fabbri develop a bond and he decides to unofficially take Rex with him when he returns to Rome.
Predictably, Rex assists Fabbri in solving several murders, and after some good publicity in the press, his Superintendent allows Rex to officially join the team.