Mark Bonnar Joins 'Ludwig' Season 2 As Filming Begins

—BritBox has been on a roll since early 2024; the BBC never managed to launch its own standalone streaming service (sorry, BBC Select), but when given one that's already on a successful track, the British Broadcaster certainly knows how to program it effectively. The uptick in premium series debuting over the last 18 months is remarkable, as is the marketing: September marks the second half of a two-month push to familiarize American viewers with their existence via HBO Max.

However, nothing thus far has been quite as successful as Ludwig. The show is a perfect combination of specific factors, starting with star David Mitchell, who developed a cult following in the U.S. after That Mitchell & Webb Look aired on BBC America. His comedic timing is showcased in the classic cozy crime "amateur detective solves mysteries better than the professionals," in which he plays Ludwig, and Ludwig's missing identical twin brother, James, wasn't just a hit for the BBC when it debuted in the U.K. It was the biggest debut for a U.K. comedy on the broadcaster since 2018. 

But more importantly, Ludwig's first season earlier in 2025 was the #1 season premiere in total viewership and unique viewers across North America. Naturally, the series is returning for a second season — greenlit before the show arrived in the U.S. — and, moreover, it's adding a PBS favorite from Masterpiece to the party.

Here's the official Season 2 synopsis:

Picking up from where things were left at the end of series one, master puzzle-setter John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor 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, 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.

Mitchell returns with the rest of the stellar core cast, including Anna Maxwell Martin (Line of Duty) as Lucy Betts-Taylor, John’s sister-in-law and the wife of his missing brother James, and Dylan Hughes (Death By Lightning) as her son, Henry Betts-Taylor. Dorothy Atkinson (The Gold) stars as the team's boss, DCS Carol Shaw, Dipo Ola (We Hunt Together) as lead investigator DI Russell Carter, Ralph Ineson (The Jetty) as Chief Constable Ziegler, and Karl Pilkington (Rain Dogs) as DI Matt Neville.

Season 2 additions include Mark Bonnar (Dept Q) as newspaper editor, Gareth Fisher, Sian Clifford (Fleabag) as local MP Joanne Kemper, Ben Ashenden (Hijack) as DC Ethan Cole, and Rumi Sutton (After the Flood) as DC Caitlin Sullivan.

Series creator Mark Brotherhood (The Trouble with Maggie Cole), who wrote all six episodes of Ludwig for Mitchell after he expressed the desire to star in his own detective series, returns to pen another six. Directors George Kane (The Completely Made Up Adventures of Dick Turpin) and Stella Corradi (Killing Eve) split helming duties across Season 2's six installments; the producer is Georgie Fallon. Brotherhood and Mitchell executive produce with Kenton Allen & Toby Welch for Big Talk Studios; Claus Wunn & Frank Seyberth for ZDF; and Kathryn O’Connor, Chris Sussman, Robert Schildhouse & Stephen Nye for BritBox.

All six episodes of Ludwig Season 1 are available to stream on BritBox. Season 2 is expected out in 2026.