The BBC has unveiled first-look images for ‘Ludwig’ Series 2, with David Mitchell (Peep Show, Would I Lie to You?) and Anna Maxwell Martin (Until I Kill You, Motherland) returning for more mystery, mayhem and awkward brilliance later this year on BBC iPlayer and BBC One.
After becoming one of the BBC’s biggest scripted hits in recent years, ‘Ludwig’ is back for a second run, and it looks set to dive straight back into the deliciously odd mix of murder, puzzles and social discomfort that made the first series such a joy. Alongside the returning cast, Series 2 also adds Mark Bonnar (Dept. Q, Guilt) and Sian Clifford (Fleabag, The Ballad of Wallis Island) as new series regulars.
Picking up after the events of the first series, John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor is now officially working as a Crime Scene Consultant alongside DI Russell Carter, tackling increasingly baffling crimes for the Cambridge Police Authority. That means he no longer has to pretend to be his missing identical twin brother, James, but it also creates a new problem. As an actual employee, he is now barred from using police resources to investigate James’s disappearance.
Naturally, that is not going to stop him. Nor is it going to stop Lucy, played once again by Anna Maxwell Martin (Code 404, A Spy Among Friends), who remains determined to find out what happened to her husband. So while one deception may have ended, another begins, with John once again trying to solve a mystery that has become very personal.
Returning cast members include Dipo Ola (Landscapers, The End We Start From) as Russell Carter, Dylan Hughes (Moonflower Murders) as Henry Betts-Taylor, Dorothy Atkinson (Mum, Inside No. 9) as Carol Shaw, Ralph Ineson (The Witch, Game of Thrones) as Chief Constable Ziegler, and Karl Pilkington (Sick of It, The Moaning of Life) as DI Matt Neville.
Joining them for the new series are Mark Bonnar (Dept. Q, Guilt) as newspaper editor Gareth Fisher, Sian Clifford (Fleabag, Quiz) 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.
Created and written by Mark Brotherhood, ‘Ludwig’ proved to be a huge success for the BBC, with Series 1 reportedly pulling in more than 9.5 million viewers across 28 days. That made it the BBC’s biggest scripted series since 2024, and its biggest comedy launch episode since at least 2018, which rather explains why the Beeb was keen to get John back on the case.
The second series will once again run for six episodes, with George Kane directing the first three and Stella Corradi directing episodes four to six.
‘Ludwig’ Series 2 does not yet have a premiere date, but will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK later this year. If you want to keep track of this or any other shows, you can add them via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date. Visit Never Miss.
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