Filming starts on series two

Catastrophe actor Mark Bonnar, Fleabag’s Sian Clifford and The Pin’s Ben Ashenden are to join detective series Ludwig, the BBC has announced 

Filming is now under way on the second series of the show, starring David Mitchell in the title role and Anna Maxwell Martin as his sister-in-law.

Bonnar will play a newspaper editor,  Clifford a local MP and Ashenden – recently seen as a cop in Deep Cover, the Amazon crime-comedy movie he co-wrote – as a detective constable. All will be series regulars. 

In the second series, crossword-setter John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor is a consultant working on ‘impossible’ crimes for Cambridge police, but no longer having to masquerade as his identical twin brother, who nevertheless remains missing. 

The show comes out of the BBC’s comedy department and was the broadcaster’s biggest new comedy launch since at least 2018, attracting more than 9.5 million viewers in its first month of release. It has since been sold to 85 international markets.

Returning for series two are Dipo Ola, Dylan Hughes, Dorothy Atkinson, Ralph Ineson and Karl Pilkington; while  Rumi Sutton joins as series regular DC Caitlin Sullivan.

Guest stars and broadcast details will be announced later.

Made by: Big Talk Studios  with That Mitchell And Webb Company,   BritBox, ZDF and ITV Studios
Written by: Mark Brotherhood
Directors: George Kane (episodes 1,2 & 3) and Stella Corradi (episodes 4, 5 & 6)
Producers: Georgie Fallon, Anya Wilson
Commissioned  by Jon Petrie: BBC director of comedy commissioning.
Commissioning editor: Tanya Qureshi
Executive producers: Kenton Allen,Toby Welch, Mark Brotherhood, David Mitchell, Kathryn O’Connor, Chris Sussman, Robert Schildhouse, Stephen Nye, Claus Wunn, Frank Seyberth

Published: 5 Sep 2025