Ludwig | |
---|---|
Genre | |
Screenplay by | Mark Brotherhood |
Directed by | Robert McKillop Jill Robertson |
Starring |
|
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 6 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Producer | Georgie Fallon |
Production companies |
|
Original release | |
Network | BBC One |
Release | 25 September 2024 – present |
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.
In October 2024, the BBC announced that a second series of Ludwig would be commissioned, with Mitchell and Martin in the starring roles. [1]
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. [2]
Series | Episodes | Originally aired | Average UK viewers (millions) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | ||||
1 | 6 | 25 September 2024 | 30 October 2024 | 6.55 |
No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [3] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "Episode 1" | Robert McKillop | Mark Brotherhood | 25 September 2024 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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. CI 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. |
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. [4] Mitchell is also an executive producer, along with script writer Brotherhood and Saurabh Kakkar. Directors are Robert McKillop and Jill Robertson. [5]
In January 2024 Anna Maxwell Martin joined the cast, as well as Izuka Hoyle, Gerran Howell, Dipo Ola, Dorothy Atkinson and Dylan Hughes. [6] Guest appearances in the series include Karl Pilkington, Felicity Kendal, Hammed Animashaun, Paul Chahidi, Derek Jacobi, Allan Mustafa, Sam Swainsbury and Rose Ayling-Ellis. [7] [8]
Filming took place in Richmond upon Thames, London and Cambridge in January 2024. [9] [10]
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. [11]
The series was first broadcast in the UK on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 25 September 2024. [12] [13]
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". [14] In a three-star review for The Guardian , Lucy Mangan said it was "like watching Peep Show 's Mark join the police force". [15] In a three-star review for The Independent , Louis Chilton said, "If you like Thursday Murder Club , you'll love this abject pap". [16]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Ludwig has a 100% rating based on 6 reviews. [17]
Norman Colin Dexter was an English crime writer known for his Inspector Morse series of novels, which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as an ITV television series, Inspector Morse, from 1987 to 2000. His characters have spawned a sequel series, Lewis, from 2006 to 2015, and a prequel series, Endeavour, from 2012 to 2023.
The Cambridge Footlights, commonly referred to simply as Footlights, is a student sketch comedy troupe located in Cambridge, England. Footlights was founded in 1883, and is one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes. The comedy society is run by the students of Cambridge University.
Robert Patrick Webb is an English comedian, actor and writer. He rose to prominence alongside David Mitchell as the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb.
David James Stuart Mitchell is a British comedian, actor and writer.
Jesse David Armstrong is a British screenwriter and producer. He is known for writing for a string of several critically acclaimed British comedy series as well as satirical dramas. He has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and seven Primetime Emmy Awards as well as a nomination for an Academy Award.
Anna Maxwell Martin, sometimes credited as Anna Maxwell-Martin, is a British actress. She won two British Academy Television Awards, for her portrayals of Esther Summerson in the BBC adaptation of Bleak House (2005) and N in the Channel 4 adaptation of Poppy Shakespeare (2008). She is also known for her roles as DCS Patricia Carmichael in BBC One crime drama Line of Duty (2019–2021) and Kelly Major in Code 404 (2020–2022). From 2016-2022, Martin starred in the BBC comedy Motherland, for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Female Comedy Performance.
Alan Connor is a British writer, journalist and television presenter. First seen on Channel 4's youth entertainment programme The Word in 1995, he later appeared on The Big Breakfast and BBC Radio Five Live and was a BBC News correspondent, appearing on BBC News 24 and The Daily Politics.
That Mitchell and Webb Look is a British sketch comedy television series starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb that ran from 2006 to 2010. Many of its characters and sketches were first featured in the duo's radio show That Mitchell and Webb Sound.
The Unbelievable Truth is a BBC Radio 4 comedy panel game devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith. The game is chaired by David Mitchell and is described in the programme's introduction as "the panel game built on truth and lies." The object of the game is for each panellist to deliver a short lecture about a given subject, which should be completely false save for five true statements which they must attempt to smuggle past the other players. The first series began broadcasting in 2007, and the 30th series began airing in August 2024.
The 2009 British Academy Television Awards were held on 26 April at the Royal Festival Hall in London. The event was broadcast live on BBC One and was hosted by Graham Norton. The nominations were announced on 24 March. Winners in bold.
Simon John Blackwell is an English comedy writer and producer. He is best known for his work on The Thick of It, In The Loop and Veep, and for his collaborations with Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain on Peep Show, Four Lions and The Old Guys. Blackwell is the creator of the comedy series Back, starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb, as well as Breeders, starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard.
John David Finnemore is a British comedy writer and actor. He wrote and performed in the radio series Cabin Pressure, John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme, and John Finnemore's Double Acts, and frequently features in other BBC Radio 4 comedy shows such as The Now Show. Finnemore has won more Comedy.co.uk awards than any other writer, and two of his shows appear in the top ten of the Radio Times' list of greatest ever radio comedies.
The Driver is a British crime drama television serial which aired on BBC One between September 23 and October 7, 2014. Written by Danny Brocklehurst, the three-part series stars David Morrissey and was directed by Jamie Payne.
Sarah Hayes, usually known as Arachne, is a British cryptic crossword setter. She sets puzzles for The Guardian, The Independent, the Financial Times, the New Statesman, and The Times, and advanced cryptics for The Listener crossword, Enigmatic Variations and the Inquisitor. Hayes's clues are often smutty or political and make frequent use of the generic she.
"The Riddle of the Sphinx" is the third episode of the third series of the British dark comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9. It first aired, on BBC Two, on 28 February 2017. The episode was written by the programme's creators, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, and directed by Guillem Morales. "The Riddle of the Sphinx", which is set in Cambridge, stars Alexandra Roach as Nina, a young woman seeking answers to the Varsity cryptic crossword, Pemberton as Professor Nigel Squires, who pseudonymously sets the crossword using the name Sphinx, and Shearsmith as Dr Jacob Tyler, another Cambridge academic. The story begins with Nina surreptitiously entering Squires's rooms on a stormy night and being discovered; this leads to Squires teaching her how to decipher clues in cryptic crosswords.
Sophie Willan is an English actress, narrator, writer and comedian. She has won two BAFTAs for her television sitcom Alma's Not Normal.
Outsiders is a British comedy game show broadcast on Dave. Pairs of comedians compete in survival-themed tasks for badges awarded by the host David Mitchell. The show was widely compared upon release to Taskmaster, a Dave original programme where comedians were set tasks to complete as individuals, which had moved to Channel 4 in 2020.
Chantelle Izuka Hoyle is a Scottish actress. She began her career in theatre. She won a Scottish BAFTA for her performance in the film Boiling Point (2021). On television, she is known for her roles in the CW series The Outpost (2020–2021) and the Channel 4 sitcom Big Boys (2022–).
Black Ops is a British television comedy series made for BBC One starring Hammed Animashaun, Gbemisola Ikumelo and Akemnji Ndifornyen. The latter two also being co-creators, writers and executive producers. The first series aired in May 2023. A second series was commissioned in August 2023.
Ella May Bruccoleri is a British actress. On television, she is known for her role as Sister Frances in the BBC One drama Call the Midwife (2018–2022).