Ludwig (TV series)

This article is about the 2024 live-action TV series. For the 1977 animated TV series, see Ludwig (cartoon).

Ludwig is a six-part BBC television detective dramedy series starring David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin which premiered on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in 2024.

Ludwig
Actors Anna Maxwell Martin and David Mitchell
Genre	Comedy drama Detective Mystery
Screenplay by	Mark Brotherhood
Directed by	Robert McKillop Jill Robertson
Starring	David Mitchell Anna Maxwell Martin Dipo Ola Sophie Willan Gerran Howell Izuka Hoyle Dylan Hughes Ralph Ineson Dorothy Atkinson Derek Jacobi
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	6
Production
Executive producers	Kenton Allen Chris Sussman Kathryn O'Connor Mark Brotherhood David Mitchell Saurabh Kakkar
Producer	Georgie Fallon
Production companies	Big Talk That Mitchell and Webb Company
Original release
Network	BBC One
Release	25 September 2024 (2024-09-25) – present

In October 2024, the BBC announced that a second series of Ludwig would be commissioned, with Mitchell and Martin in the starring roles.

Premise

John Taylor (David Mitchell) is a reclusive puzzle maker who publishes puzzle books under the pen name "Ludwig". His identical twin brother, James Taylor, is a successful Detective Chief Inspector in the Cambridge police force. James has gone missing, and his wife Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin) enlists John's help to solve the mystery. Pretending to be his brother, John infiltrates the local police station to investigate, and becomes inadvertently embroiled in solving other cases.

Cast

• David Mitchell as John "Ludwig" Taylor/DCI James Taylor
  • Jakub Bednarczyk as Young John/Young James
• Anna Maxwell Martin as Lucy Betts-Taylor
• Dipo Ola as DI Russell Carter
• Izuka Hoyle as DS Alice Finch
• Gerran Howell as DC Simon Evans
• Dorothy Atkinson as DCS Carol Shaw
• Dylan Hughes as Henry Betts-Taylor
• Sophie Willan as Holly Pinder
• Ralph Ineson as Chief Constable Ziegler

Guest appearances

• Karl Pilkington as DI Matt Neville
• Felicity Kendal as Lady Camilla Bryce
• Hammed Animashaun as Ross Barclay
• Ella Bruccoleri as Megan Rowland
• Paul Chahidi as Adrian Tate
• Allan Mustafa as Gary Jennings
• Sam Swainsbury as Mr Bishop
• Rose Ayling-Ellis as Ms Freya Chordwell
• Derek Jacobi as Mr Todd

Episodes

Series	Episodes		Originally aired		Average UK viewers (millions)
			First aired	Last aired
1	6		25 September 2024 (2024-09-25)	30 October 2024 (2024-10-30)	6.55

Series 1 (2024)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
1	1	"Episode 1"	Robert McKillop	Mark Brotherhood	25 September 2024 (2024-09-25)	6.01
Puzzle setter John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor’s life of solitude is upended when his identical twin, DCI James Taylor, disappears. Drafted in by his sister-in-law Lucy, John reluctantly assumes his brother's identity as a detective in the Cambridge Police Authority in order to find clues to his brother’s whereabouts. She tells him about how he had changed in recent months. She also shows him a letter of resignation that he sent her with instructions. John discovers that things have changed at work for James and he has a new partner DI Carter. John is tasked with infiltrating the major investigations team, gathering information and solving a completely unconnected murder of a solicitor, Alan Howells, all whilst remaining in character as his brother. A difficult ask for anyone, let alone a reclusive puzzle-setting genius who rarely leaves the house. Can this master of all things cryptic crack his biggest puzzle yet? DS Finch believes that the killers may be involved in organised crime. The building is shared with 2 other companies. John struggles to come to terms with the task. He then uses logic to accuse Sarah Gilmarch of the murder and she breaks down and confesses to killing him after he ended a 6 year affair. He finally makes it back to the office where he finds James’s notebook. It contains a cipher that needs solving. John decides to investigate further. James’s son Henry finds the letter.
2	2	"Episode 2"	Robert McKillop	Mark Brotherhood	2 October 2024 (2024-10-02)	6.15
Still posing as his police detective brother, John Taylor gets drawn into the investigation of another man's disappearance during a team-building seminar held in a stately home. Once again, John uses his logical skills to untangle the incident, while James's wife Lucy reminds him he's meant to focus on finding his brother. A bigger mystery behind James's disappearance begins to take form.
3	3	"Episode 3"	Robert McKillop	Mark Brotherhood	9 October 2024 (2024-10-09)	6.34
The murder of a Cambridge tour guide tests John's logic, while Lucy conducts her own investigation into a case whose details were left by James in an old fax machine and found by John and Lucy in Episode 2.
4	4	"Episode 4"	Jill Robertson	Mark Brotherhood	16 October 2024 (2024-10-16)	6.64
John Taylor, continuing to impersonate his police detective brother, gets caught up in the investigation of a suspicious death on a building site.
5	5	"Episode 5"	Jill Robertson	Mark Brotherhood	23 October 2024 (2024-10-23)	6.99
The headmaster of a school is found apparently hanged in his study. John Taylor, a former pupil of a similar school, is convinced it is murder. He attempts to solve the case with the assistance of his former teacher and mentor, who has moved to this school, who also deduces that John is impersonating James. After receiving a strange phone call, Lucy goes on a covert mission to unravel the mystery of James's disappearance.
6	6	"Episode 6"	Jill Robertson	Mark Brotherhood	30 October 2024 (2024-10-30)	7.15
Holly, the police technology specialist, is found dead in her flat and Lucy has been arrested at the scene on suspicion of her murder. Lucy was found with a knife that is later proved to be the murder weapon. Lucy denies killing Holly when questioned by DI Carter. She claims that she had been called by Holly. As the pressure ramps up, Lucy admits that what she needs right now isn’t James or John, it’s Ludwig. She tells John in an illicit call that she thinks someone may have been posing as Holly. CC Ziegler demands the matter is resolved quickly. Carter formally questions John including questioning the nature of his relationship with Holly after what Evans had overheard. Chief Superintendent Shaw takes an active part in the investigation. Holly’s flat reveals that she was conducting her own investigation. With Lucy embroiled in a murder plot, all eyes are on John. The hunt for James takes a back seat as John desperately battles to prove Lucy’s innocence as he comes clean about his true identity. Angry at James for abandoning his family, John questions whether his brother is worth any of this. Carter fills in Shaw about all they know of James’s disappearance. Evans thinks that Holly’s comment about a kiss may have been a test and that she was testing whether he was actually James or not. John thinks that he may well have solved the case. He believes that the killer had barged in before Lucy arrived. The killer hid when Lucy arrived and swapped knives before escaping unseen. Holly’s boyfriend Adam is forced to confess. It emerges that Adam was not Holly’s boyfriend but was helping her to gather and sell information to those such as Sinclair. James had been taken off the Sinclair case. When he persisted in investigating, Holly was planning to blackmail him. She then realised that James was actually John and was planning to blackmail Lucy. The documents and files taken from Sinclair’s house never got to Scotland Yard as intended. Cambridge Police contrive James's resignation. John receives a cryptic phone call from James, leading him to Sinclair’s hidden files. John is re-engaged as a paid consultant to solve crimes.

Production

Filming took place in the English city of Cambridge and other locations

The production company for the series is Big Talk, in association with That Mitchell and Webb Company. Mark Brotherhood has written the script, and the producer is Georgie Fallon. Executive producers include Kenton Allen, Chris Sussman and Kathryn O'Connor. Mitchell is also an executive producer, along with script writer Brotherhood and Saurabh Kakkar. Directors are Robert McKillop and Jill Robertson.

In January 2024 Anna Maxwell Martin joined the cast, as well as Izuka Hoyle, Gerran Howell, Dipo Ola, Dorothy Atkinson and Dylan Hughes. Guest appearances in the series include Karl Pilkington, Felicity Kendal, Hammed Animashaun, Paul Chahidi, Derek Jacobi, Allan Mustafa, Sam Swainsbury and Rose Ayling-Ellis.

Filming took place in Richmond upon Thames, London and Cambridge in January 2024.

Alan Connor was brought in as the series' puzzle consultant, and produced the crosswords used as props in the series. He also worked with John Henderson ("Enigmatist") to set a cryptic crossword for The Guardian in-character as Ludwig.

Broadcast

The series was first broadcast in the UK on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 25 September 2024.

Reception

Reviews from critics have been generally favourable.

In a five-star review for The Telegraph, Anita Singh described the "cosy cryptic crime series" as a "comedy triumph". In a three-star review for The Guardian, Lucy Mangan said it was "like watching Peep Show's Mark join the police force". In a three-star review for The Independent, Louis Chilton said, "If you like Thursday Murder Club, you'll love this abject pap".

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Ludwig has a 100% rating based on 6 reviews.

External links

• Ludwig at BBC Online
• Ludwig at IMDb