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Filming commences on series two of David Mitchell's smash hit award-winning BBC comedy detective series Ludwig
Joining David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin are Mark Bonnar and Sian Clifford as series regulars
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.
Ludwig (6x60') is a Big Talk Studios production in association with That Mitchell And Webb Company, in co-production with BritBox and ZDF, for the BBC. It is produced in association with ITV Studios, which also handles international distribution. The series was commissioned for BBC One and BBC iPlayer by Jon Petrie, BBC Director of Comedy Commissioning. Series two is again written by Mark Brotherhood, and the directors are George Kane (episodes 1,2 & 3) and Stella Corradi (episodes 4, 5 & 6). The executive producers are Kenton Allen and Toby Welch for Big Talk Studios, Mark Brotherhood, David Mitchell, Kathryn O'Connor, Chris Sussman; Robert Schildhouse and Stephen Nye for BritBox; and Claus Wunn and Frank Seyberth for ZDF. The producer is Georgie Fallon, with Anya Wilson serving as co-producer. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Tanya Qureshi.
Guest stars and further details will be announced in due course.
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New cast biographies:
Mark Bonnar
Mark's notable projects include playing Department Q (Netflix), starring alongside Matthew Goode, Kelly Macdonald and Shirley Henderson; Last Breath (Focus Features) starring Woody Harrelson and Finn Cole; 'Junot' in Napoleon (AppleTV) directed and produced by Ridley Scott, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby and Tahar Rahim; Lockerbie: A Search For Truth (Sky Atlantic/NowTV) starring Colin Firth, the five times BAFTA-winning drama Guilt (BBC); the cult dark comedy Inside No. 9 (BBC1), Litvinenko (ITV) alongside David Tennant; Operation Mincemeat (Warner Bros.) starring Colin Firth, The Rig (Amazon Prime), Apple Tree Yard opposite Emily Watson and Ben Chaplin for BBC One; Unforgotten (ITV), winning the BAFTA Scotland Awards for Best Actor for his portrayal of 'Colin Osborne'. He also received wide praise for his portrayal of 'Eric Morecambe' in BBC Four's Eric, Ernie and Me. From 2015 to 2019, Mark appeared alongside Sharon Horgan, Rob Delaney and Ashley Jensen in the Emmy and BAFTA nominated series Catastrophe (Channel 4/Amazon Prime Video), Line of Duty (BBC1), Shetland (BBC1) and Humans (C4).
His theatre credits include The Little Foxes at the Young Vic, The Duchess of Malfi at the Old Vic, Philistines at the National Theatre, Parade at the Donmar Warehouse and the Royal Court's production Instructions for Correct Assembly.
Sian Clifford
Sian Clifford is a BAFTA-winning, Emmy(R), SAG and Critics Choice Award nominated actress, best known for her role as Claire in the global phenomenon and critically acclaimed Fleabag. Clifford started out her career working extensively in British theatre. Most recently she starred in the highly celebrated West End production of Consent, the last theatre production to be directed by the late Roger Michell.
Clifford's film credits include the mystery thriller See How They Run with Saoirse Ronan, Sam Rockwell and Adrien Brody; Chevalier with Kelvin Harrison Jr and Lucy Boynton; The Duke with Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren, also directed by Michell; animation The Magician's Elephant; the critically acclaimed Young Woman and the Sea with Daisy Ridley and Stephen Graham; and the upcoming Mother Mary alongside Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel, directed by David Lowery. She was most recently on our screens in the critically acclaimed Ballad of Wallis Island alongside Tim Key, Tom Basden and Carey Mulligan.
Her television credits include Netflix's Unstable with Rob Lowe; the BBC's Life After Life with Thomasin McKenzie; season 3 of the BBC/HBO His Dark Materials; Sky's Hitmen; Disney and Lucasfilm animation Star Wars: The Bad Batch; and an appearance in the BBC's dark comedy Inside No. 9. Clifford starred opposite Matthew Macfadyen and Michael Sheen in Stephen Frears' Quiz, ITV's most watched TV drama of 2020. Most recently she guest starred in the second season of Everyone Else Burns for Channel 4; the Netflix Sketch Comedy Special A Whole Lifetime with Jamie Demetriou; and appeared in the season finale of cult-hit Doctor Who with the fifteenth Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa. Clifford will feature in Riz Ahmed's forthcoming project Quarter Life for Amazon MGM Studios; she will also star alongside Elizabeth Banks and Matthew Macfadyen in the hotly anticipated series The Miniature Wife for Peacock.
In 2020, Clifford won the BAFTA for Female Performance in a Comedy and Actor of the Year at Stylist's Remarkable Women Awards. She was recently nominated for her leading role in the BBC Radio 4 Comedy Time of the Week, for Best Comedy Performance of 2024 at the BBC Audio Drama Awards.
Ben Ashenden
Ben Ashenden is an award-winning actor, writer, and one half of the comedy duo 'The Pin', alongside longtime collaborator Alex Owen. The Pin's multi-award-winning sketch series debuted on BBC Radio 4 in 2015, with subsequent series airing in 2016, 2017, and 2019. The show earned widespread praise and won Best Comedy at the BBC Radio Awards in 2016.
Their stage debut, originally titled The Pin: Backstage, premiered at the Edinburgh Festival and later transferred to the West End under the new title The Comeback in 2021 with Ben and Alex both writing and starring. They continued their collaboration with Live at the Moth Club for UKTV's Dave, and Ben currently has a number of writing projects in development with leading production companies including Banijay Television, Baby Cow, Two Brothers Pictures, and Clerkenwell Films.
As an actor, Ben has appeared in numerous film and television projects. His film credits include The Bubble (directed by Judd Apatow), Jurassic World Dominion (directed by Colin Trevorrow), and What's Love Got To Do With It? for Working Title Films. On television, he has appeared in Black Mirror (Netflix), Hijack (Apple TV), A Whole Lifetime with Jamie Demetriou, 1899 (Netflix), Call My Agent (Amazon), and Avenue 5 (HBO), directed by Armando Iannucci.
Coming up, Ben will appear in the feature film Wicker, alongside Olivia Colman, and in Ruben Östlund's new film, The Entertainment System is Down.
Rumi Sutton
Rumi was nominated this year for an Ian Charleson Award, for her role as Cecily in The Importance Of Being Ernest at the Manchester Royal Exchange.
Screen credits include: After The Flood (ITV), Daddy Issues (Series 2- BBC), Mutiny (Lionsgate), Casualty (BBC), A Memory Owed (short), Aping Edwin Porter (short).
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