U&Alibi Sets May UK Return For ‘Hudson & Rex’ Season 8 Amid Major Changes

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‘Hudson & Rex‘ returns to UK screens this May, but the crime drama’s eighth season arrives with some rather major changes behind the scenes and on screen.

Set in St. John’s, Newfoundland, the series is back for another run of cases involving Rex and the Major Crimes team, but this time the dog’s human partner is no longer Detective Charlie Hudson. Instead, Season 8 introduces Detective Mark Hudson, played by Luke Roberts (Game Of Thrones, Ransom), a new lead who steps in alongside the much-loved German Shepherd.

That shift is likely to be the biggest talking point for longtime fans. Mark Hudson is not the same character as Charlie Hudson, and he is not related to him either, making this less of a straight recast and more of a full lead-character swap while keeping the familiar surname in the title. Charlie had been played since launch by John Reardon (Van Helsing, Continuum), whose reduced role in Season 7 came during cancer treatment. Reardon later revealed publicly that he had received a clean bill of health and was ready to return, but said the production chose to move in a different direction.

That revelation sparked a fair amount of backlash from viewers, many of whom had assumed Reardon’s exit was purely health-related and temporary. It gives Season 8 an unusual context, because this is not just a new chapter for the show, it is effectively a relaunch of its central partnership.

Returning alongside Roberts are Mayko Nguyen (Killjoys, The Good Doctor) as Dr. Sarah Truong, Kevin Hanchard (Orphan Black, The Expanse) as Superintendent Joseph Donovan, and Justin Kelly (Wynonna Earp, Between) as Detective Jesse Mills. Season 8 sees Mark become a full member of the SJPD’s Major Crimes Division, with the team taking on a fresh batch of dangerous investigations involving hired killers, abductions, conspiracy-linked murders, and more.

There is also another significant change tied to Rex himself. Diesel vom Burgimwald, the original canine star who played Rex through the first six seasons and into the early part of Season 7, sadly died in August 2024 after a cancer diagnosis. From Season 7 onward, the role of Rex has been taken on by Diesel’s relatives, including nephews Dillon and Dante, while Izzy and Iko continue handling stunt work. So even the four-legged half of the show’s central duo has gone through a transition.

That all means Season 8 lands in a very different place from the one viewers first signed up for. Whether fans embrace Mark and the reshaped version of the series remains to be seen, but U&Alibi viewers will soon get the chance to judge for themselves.

The opener, “Into the Wilds”, sees Mark and Rex racing to find a key witness set to testify against a notorious crime boss before a hired assassin gets there first.

‘Hudson & Rex‘ Season 8 premieres Sunday, 10th May 2026 at 8pm on U&Alibi. Available on demand on Sky, Virgin Media and NOW.