Filming is now underway on the much-anticipated second series of the BBC’s acclaimed detective series Ludwig, starring David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin.

Ludwig is created and written by Mark Brotherhood and produced by Big Talk Studios (part of ITV Studios), in collaboration with That Mitchell and Webb Company. Series one of the binge-worthy comedy-drama was the BBC’s biggest scripted show of last year (2024), and the biggest launch for a comedy since at least 2018, attracting over 9.5 million viewers (28-day figure). Ludwig is the number one season premiere in total viewership and unique viewers across BritBox North America in 2025. Global sales to date for Ludwig will see it airing in 85 international markets with more under discussion.

Picking up from where things were left at the end of series one, master puzzle-setter John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor (David Mitchell) is now a Crime Scene Consultant working on ‘impossible’ crimes for the Cambridge Police Authority. No longer having to masquerade as his brother, he’s openly more ‘Ludwig’ than ever - brilliant at solving puzzles but hopeless at everything else.

But John’s identical twin brother, James, is still missing, and now that he’s an official employee of the station, John is forbidden from using any police resources to look for his brother or uncover exactly what he was investigating.

Of course, John won’t stop and neither will Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin), John’s sister-in-law and wife of his missing brother James - a puzzle needs solving and a husband and father needs bringing home. One masquerade may have ended, but a new one has just begun.

Also returning for series two are Dipo Ola as DCI Russell Carter, Dylan Hughes as Henry Betts-Taylor, Dorothy Atkinson as DCS Carol Shaw, Ralph Ineson as Chief Constable Ziegler, and Karl Pilkington as DI Matt Neville.

Joining the cast as series regulars are Mark Bonnar (Dept. Q, Guilt) as newspaper editor, Gareth Fisher, Sian Clifford (Fleabag, The Ballad of Wallis Island) as local MP, Joanne Kemper, Ben Ashenden (Deep Cover, Black Mirror) as DC Ethan Cole, and Rumi Sutton (After the Flood, Mutiny) as DC Caitlin Sullivan.

Guest stars and further details will be announced in due course.

(Image: BBC/Big Talk Studios /Olly Courtney)