BBC recommissions Ludwig after ratings success

Ludwig will be returning to BBC One and BBC iPlayer for a second series.

The series centres around John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor, whose identical twin, James, suddenly goes missing under mysterious circumstances. In a bid to find out what happened, John assumes his brother’s identity. But there’s a twist: John has lived a quiet, uneventful life, designing puzzles and avoiding the outside world, while his brother is a high-flying DCI leading a major crimes team in Cambridge.

Filling in for James leads to hilariously high stakes and serious crime-solving.

For the second series, David Mitchell returns as Ludwig, alongside Anna Maxwell Martin as Lucy Betts-Taylor, the wife of John’s missing brother James.

David Mitchell said:

“I’m delighted that John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor has failed to escape the clutches of the Cambridge police and will have to continue to face up to the city’s alarming conundrum-based crime wave.”

Ludwig  has been called ‘the funniest show on TV this year’ by The Guardian and labelled ‘a comedy triumph’ by the Daily Telegraph.

The first series just finished airing last night (October 30). It captivated audiences, attracting over 9.5 million viewers (28-day figure), making it the BBC’s biggest scripted show of the year to date, the largest since 2022. It’s the biggest launch for a comedy since at least 2018.

Creator and writer, Mark Brotherhood, said he had “been blown away” by the reaction to the series.

Head of comedy at the Beeb, Jon Petrie, described the show as a “true standout” and said his department was eagerly awaiting the second series.

Ludwig is a Big Talk Studios production in association with That Mitchell And Webb Company.