Where is it found?: It's a UK TV series from 2024, currently available on BBC iPlayer and BritBox.
Elevator pitch of what it's about: It's a comedy drama where David Mitchell plays John Taylor, a reclusive puzzle and crossword creator who publishes his work under the pseudonym 'Ludwig'. His twin brother James, a police detective, has gone missing, and sister-in-law Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin) asks John to briefly impersonate him to fetch some notes about what he was working on from the police station. Of course, that's swiftly complicated by the fact that James's colleagues expect him to help solve crimes, and that the notes about James's investigations are in code...
Content warnings: This is mostly on the lighter side as detective dramas go, but it does concern murder investigations, so a certain amount of on-screen blood and the like.
What do you love about it?: It's a delightful series! The cast are all charming and it's funny and lighter in tone compared to some more serious detective dramas, but at the same time the low-key police corruption thriller and mystery of James's disappearance going on in the background adds a bit of complexity to the character dynamics and the potential for some darker undercurrents than in a typical cosy crime series. John makes a very likeable lead, awkward with people and always feeling like he's in the shadow of his more capable twin, but fundamentally very sweet and willing to do anything for his more recklessly impulsive sister-in-law. The series draws a lot of comparisons to Jonathan Creek, both tonally and because the mysteries are often more about John using his puzzle-solving skills to figure out how something could have been done than necessarily just whodunnit.
What kind of themes would you request for it?: While the police work John gets caught up in generally involves murder investigations, the tone of the show gives a lot of flexibility for stories ranging from lighthearted comedy drama to darker and more serious cases. There's also the side investigation John is pursuing with his sister-in-law about what James was looking into and why he's gone on the run. On top of that, the setup gives plenty of potential for interesting character dynamics between John's complex relationship with Lucy, who was his childhood best friend before ultimately marrying his twin, his navigating getting to know his police colleagues when he's socially awkward, pretending to be someone he's not and doesn't know who he can trust, and the shadow of James and his disappearance hanging over everything.
Ludwig (TV)
Media: TV
Approximate length: 6 hour-long episodes
Where is it found?: It's a UK TV series from 2024, currently available on BBC iPlayer and BritBox.
Elevator pitch of what it's about: It's a comedy drama where David Mitchell plays John Taylor, a reclusive puzzle and crossword creator who publishes his work under the pseudonym 'Ludwig'. His twin brother James, a police detective, has gone missing, and sister-in-law Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin) asks John to briefly impersonate him to fetch some notes about what he was working on from the police station. Of course, that's swiftly complicated by the fact that James's colleagues expect him to help solve crimes, and that the notes about James's investigations are in code...
Content warnings: This is mostly on the lighter side as detective dramas go, but it does concern murder investigations, so a certain amount of on-screen blood and the like.
What do you love about it?: It's a delightful series! The cast are all charming and it's funny and lighter in tone compared to some more serious detective dramas, but at the same time the low-key police corruption thriller and mystery of James's disappearance going on in the background adds a bit of complexity to the character dynamics and the potential for some darker undercurrents than in a typical cosy crime series. John makes a very likeable lead, awkward with people and always feeling like he's in the shadow of his more capable twin, but fundamentally very sweet and willing to do anything for his more recklessly impulsive sister-in-law. The series draws a lot of comparisons to Jonathan Creek, both tonally and because the mysteries are often more about John using his puzzle-solving skills to figure out how something could have been done than necessarily just whodunnit.
What kind of themes would you request for it?: While the police work John gets caught up in generally involves murder investigations, the tone of the show gives a lot of flexibility for stories ranging from lighthearted comedy drama to darker and more serious cases. There's also the side investigation John is pursuing with his sister-in-law about what James was looking into and why he's gone on the run. On top of that, the setup gives plenty of potential for interesting character dynamics between John's complex relationship with Lucy, who was his childhood best friend before ultimately marrying his twin, his navigating getting to know his police colleagues when he's socially awkward, pretending to be someone he's not and doesn't know who he can trust, and the shadow of James and his disappearance hanging over everything.