Ludwig TV review — David Mitchell solves puzzles and crimes in BBC comedy-mystery
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Sometimes it's really useful to have a doctor in the family, while other moments make you appreciate being connected to someone who excels at solving puzzles. When Lucy’s husband vanishes without a trace, leaving behind a mysterious coded note, she turns to her shy brother-in-law for assistance in unraveling the mystery. However, John is a mystery in his own right. He is so perplexed by life beyond his beloved crosswords and sudoku that getting him to step outside is a challenge, let alone investigating a possible conspiracy involving the police.
That's exactly the challenge set for John in Ludwig, a fresh comedy-mystery series from the BBC featuring David Mitchell. Staying true to his strengths, Mitchell portrays John as a character reminiscent of Mark Corrigan, the awkward and anxious loan officer he became famous for in Peep Show. In this storyline, John must impersonate his identical twin, James, who is a detective from Cambridge. He does this to sneak into the police station and find out more about his brother's investigation before he mysteriously disappeared.
Even though John is hesitant to go undercover at Lucy's (Anna Maxwell Martin) request, he quickly realizes that he has a talent for solving crimes using his logical reasoning. Alongside the main plot, each episode also features a separate case from the seemingly murder-prone city of Cambridge, known for its beauty.
Ludwig takes us back to the days of classic "mystery-of-the-week" television shows, reminiscent of a time when they were a common fixture on our screens. The main character, with his old Nokia phone and beat-up car, adds to the nostalgic charm. However, the comforting atmosphere quickly turns into something tedious and uninteresting, as the show lacks diversity or excitement. The hour-long episodes feel unnecessarily drawn out, and the series doesn't strive for anything beyond being simple and bland entertainment.
Frequently, the humor falls flat, merely teasing John’s social awkwardness, or is completely absent. On the mystery side, the narrative is weighed down by awkward explanations and solutions that showcase John’s intellect without giving us the chance to engage our own reasoning. Instead, Ludwig tries to evoke our emotions with a weak backstory about John’s troubled childhood. Ultimately, what we have is a series that resembles a chaotic word search rather than a cleverly crafted puzzle.
Tune in to BBC1 starting September 25 at 9 p.m. for new episodes each week, and you can also catch up on iPlayer right now.
