Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: David Mitchell, Anna Maxwell Martin, Dipo Ola, Sophie Willan, Gerran Howell, Izuka Hoyle, Dylan Hughes, Dorothy Atkinson, Ralph Ineson, Jacub Bednarczyk, Derek Jacobi, Anton Cross, Hammed Animashaun, Natali McCleary, Suzanne Ahmet, Heidi Berger, Jamie Beamish, Allan Mustafa, Sophie Allen, Ella Bruccoleri, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Tom Bell, Alex Romashov, Stevie Binns, Paul Chahidi, Alice Feetham, Gavin Spokes, Scarlett Brookes, Felicity Kendal, Julie Dray, Annabelle Dowler, Frankie Minchella, Rob Jarman, Karl Pilkington, Amanda Lawrence, Naveed Khan, Ikky Kabir, Julie Legrand, Christos Lawton, Ethan Moorhouse, Pablo Raybould, Alison Pargeter, Ivan Ovik, Tom McCall, Harry Spalding, Sam Swainsbury.
To take a punt on a new crime drama set near the waters of the Cam, to imagine murder in an area where garden parties invitations have been sent to debutants and vicars alike, where Beethoven is the call for background music rather than the sufferings of Strauss, is to imagine that slaughter is rife and that the ritual of the cucumber massacre for the entertainment of the attendees has been downplayed, is perhaps to be initially taken with an motion of suspending belief, but one that quickly dispels the unlikely for the quality of investigation within the clues solved by Ludwig.
The disappearance of a Cambridge detective, the unlikely hero in the form of his twin brother stepping into his shoes to solve the mystery of his vanishing act, and unknowingly become the star of the local force as his technique and forte of solving puzzles teaches his colleagues a way of solving the most impossible of crimes; it might be far fetched to believe that a timid, once bullied and reclusive man could become such a protagonist, but in the creation of Ludwig by writer Mark Brotherhood, what transpires is a six-part series that is entertaining and which stretches the grey cells of the armchair detective to a point of glee.
With a cast that matches the energy of the murders, including the excellent Anna Maxwell Martin, Sophia Willan, Dorethy Atkinson, and Dipo Ola, joining the erudite and perfectly placed David Mitchell as the puzzle setting John Taylor, Cambridge enjoys its second series set in one of the great University cities of England, after the equally quirky Professor T and one that is prepared to see the despicable act of taking another’s life as more than just a factor of a human failing, and instead as a way of explaining life as a complex brainteaser to which some will brood and ponder too long in the sight of shadows and the need to cover up mistakes made in a view of a greater mind.
David Mitchell, stepping away from the comedic side in which he has made his substantial name, but not too far as to lose the sense of physicality he brings to the role as the nervous, solitary twin, revels in the responsibility of the role, his timing between off hand humour and creative insight is to be applauded, and when interacting with special guests such as Felicity Kendell, Derek Jacobi, and Sam Swainsbury, it becomes endearing, a sense that he represents the everyman thrust into a position far beyond his understanding, but who uses their own set of skills in which to thrive.
A terrifically balanced and intriguing first series of Ludwig, a surprisingly welcome addition to the television detective genre.
Ian D. Hall