Ludwig is a British detective dramedy television series starring David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin. It premiered on BBC One on 25 September 2024.
In October 2024, the BBC announced that a second series of Ludwig had been commissioned, with Mitchell and Martin reprising their respective roles.
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), a childhood friend of both brothers, enlists John's help to solve the mystery. Pretending to be his brother, John infiltrates the local police station to investigate; inadvertently, he becomes embroiled in solving other cases.
The production company for the series is Big Talk, in association with That Mitchell and Webb Company. Mark Brotherhood wrote the script. 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 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.
In September 2025, filming commenced on the second series, with Mark Bonnar, Sian Clifford, Ben Ashenden, and Rumi Sutton all joining the cast as series regulars.
The series was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 25 September 2024.
Reviews from critics have been generally favourable. The show recorded almost 10 million viewers in the first month of airing.
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 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." Victoria Segal included the series in her 'Best of 2024' list for The Sunday Times, saying that the series "felt fresh and funny; comfort viewing, yes, but cut with a dash of Nordic noir".
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Ludwig has a 97% rating based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Cleverly plotted and a wonderful showcase for star David Mitchell's brainy charm, Ludwig is a thoroughly pleasant mystery series that stays light on its feet."
The series won Best Comedy Series at the 53rd International Emmy Awards in November 2025.
The series was nominated for Best TV Comedy Drama at the Comedy.co.uk Awards in January 2025. The series won at the 2025 Broadcast Awards in the Best Comedy Programme category in February 2025. It was nominated for Best Comedy Drama at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards in March 2025. That month, the show was nominated for Scripted Comedy at the 2025 British Academy Television Awards. The series was nominated for New Drama at the National Television Awards. The series also received recognition at the 2025 Venice TV Awards, where it won the Comedy category. In November 2025, Robert McKillop was nominated for the Best Director (fiction) Award at the 2025 British Academy Scotland Awards.