Ludwig Renewed by BBC; Series Heading to BritBox; US Remake Rumors

Posted in: BBC, streaming, TV | Tagged: Britbox, Ludwig

Ludwig Renewed by BBC; Series Heading to BritBox; US Remake Rumors

Ludwig, the hit BBC detective comedy starring David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin, will be back for Season 2 and will hit BritBox in 2025.

Published Sat, 02 Nov 2024 12:07:08 -0500
by Adi Tantimedh
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Last updated Sat, 02 Nov 2024 13:01:26 -0500
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Ludwig, the best new comedy detective series of the year, has been, unsurprisingly, renewed for a second season by the BBC. It has, as expected, taken its first steps to a potential U.S. remake after the David Mitchell cozy crime series became the BBC's biggest comedy launch since 2018, which says a lot. Ludwig was watched by 9.5M people on the BBC, and the BBC, naturally, has moved quickly to renew the comedy crime drama for a second season. BritBox has also closed a deal to stream the first two seasons in the U.S. and Canada from early next year. It was always going to be either BritBox or Netflix that was going to get it for North America.

According to Deadline, Big Talk Studios is entertaining interest from writers about adapting Ludwig for an American remake because US audiences are high on similar shows, including Only Murders in the Building, Matlock, and High Potential. The series has been presented to the market and early talks are taking place with potential showrunners. The series was created by Mark Brotherhood; the series stars David Mitchell as John 'Ludwig' Taylor, a reclusive, introverted puzzle-setter who masquerades as his missing cop twin brother when the latter goes missing. Anna Maxwell Martin co-stars as his sister-in-law, who talked him into this scheme, and becomes annoyed when he keeps getting distracted from searching for clues to his brother's disappearance by solving crimes and murders. Ludwig was tailored for Mitchell by Brotherhood after the actor said he was interested in playing a detective while working with Big Talk on Back, the Channel 4 series from Veep writer Simon Blackwell.

Robert Schildhouse, president of BritBox North America and general manager of BritBox International, told Deadline that the series was a "natural fit" for the streaming service. In a sign of its confidence in Ludwig, BritBox has taken the unusual decision to commit to co-financing a second season before the comedy has even premiered on its platform. Schildhouse compared Ludwig to Monk, the hit USA Network series starring Tony Shalhoub, and argued that Mitchell is "primed to have a U.S. moment." He continued: "It was just a very obvious opportunity for us to blend genres a bit … We really do believe that this is the sort of show that can help break through and introduce new audiences to the best of British television." We hope this means they'll remake it with Mitchell because he's so unique it's nearly impossible to find someone just like him in America. A US recasting would inevitably try to cast someone who looks like a buff gym rat.

Ludwig is currently only available to stream BBC iPlayer until it comes to Britbox in North America next year.

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