Ludwig is a classic whodunnit with an interesting twist—the detective solving murder mysteries isn’t a cool genius like Sherlock or a goofy alien like Doctor Who. Instead, he’s a regular middle-aged man who just happens to be really good at solving puzzles. This, in turn, makes him see patterns in murder cases that would otherwise take the police years to solve. The series is amusing in that sense. Here’s a likable old recluse who doesn’t know how the internet works and how to be around people, yet he’s often the smartest man in the room. And you have a new puzzle to solve with him per episode, like Columbo. But the series’s core mystery—where is Ludwig’s twin brother, and how long before his team figures out his disguise?—is a compelling one. It’s the thread that connects all episodes, and it builds up in a way that makes it impossible to quit watching. You’ll have to finish the entire series to find the answers to the questions it set up. You’re not Ludwig after all.
"Though much of “Ludwig” feels comfortingly familiar, and orderly in its methods, it’s refreshingly its own thing, too, subverting conventions not just of genre but of trope."
— Sarah Larson
John Taylor lives in quiet solitude, designing puzzles for a living, under the nom-de-plume of 'Ludwig'. When his identical twin, James, disappears off the face of the earth, John takes over his brother's identity in a quest to discover his whereabouts.
John Taylor, aka Ludwig (David Mitchell), a puzzle genius and recluse, pretends to be his twin brother James, a detective, after he mysteriously disappears.
With all the whodunnit shows out there, Ludwig feels familiar, but not necessarily in a bad way. It’s comforting, more than anything, to watch a mystery show this laidback and lightly comic.
If you ever wished for a more polite and toned-down Sherlock series or a British Monk, then here you go.
Oscars
1 nomination
