Ludwig

Just binged this on iPlayer and loved it.

Nothing particularly original about it but was good fun throughout and kept you guessing throughout every episode.

It's a kind of mix of many different detectives/mystery programmes - Holmes , Poirot , Professor T , Jonathon Creek etc but done with a David Mitchel style.

The beauty is that it is not padded out with filler just to drag out each episode - it's the perfect 60 minute mystery so it chugs along nicely and sticks to the plot - with no annoying subplots that go nowhere. Its attraction is its simplicity and humour.

It's a very family oriented show with no violence , bad language , nudity , sexual content - it's just wholesome great TV viewing !!

I wish there was more like this being commissioned by the BBC that was as good a quality as this is. I'm not usually one for overcooking an idea into endless seasons until it becomes a parody of itself - but I do hope they make at least a second series.

Every few years, thankfully we get a show like this. " Ludwig". Mark Brotherhood, the creator of this show deserves congratulations. What a fantastic premise.

James and John are twins. James is a cop and John is a puzzle book creative who goes by the name of Ludwig. James goes missing, and his wife, Lucy, summons John, to pretend he is James, to sneek in the police station to retrieve one item. But, luckily for us, it does not go that way. Several solved murders on, whilst still looking for James, more twists and turns. Kudos to Anna Maxwell Martin, as Lucy ( his wife), and Dylan Hughes, who plays the son Henry. Who also, if you watched "Maternity", was excellent as a dying kid. All the supporting characters are quirky and fairly well drawn out. This a great, great show.

Lucy turns to her brother in law John, when her husband, John's twin brother James disappears. John, a puzzle designer by profession has to step into the shoes of his brother, a DCI in Cambridge.

It's a wonderful series, if I had to compare it to a show, it would be Jonathan Creek, you have complex mysteries, a wry humour, and a somewhat underrated, genius central character. It's light viewing, devoid of bad language and violence, it's intriguing family entertainment.

It's possibly the best new show to come out of The Beeb for years, I'm so glad to see it's been a ratings winner, and that a second series is in the pipeline. It has winner all over it, beautifully written, wonderfully produced and wonderfully acted.

David Mitchell is superb, perhaps the best thing I've seen him do, Anna Maxwell Martin, Dorothy Atkinson and Ralph Ineson are great. Sir Derek Jacobi gives a great guest performance.

Roll on Series 2, I can't wait for it.

9/10.

"David Mitchell wants to do a series in which he solves crimes like Inspector Morse or Miss Marple. We'll go with Morse - complete with puzzles - swap Oxford for Cambridge and build in the loveable fogeyishness that Mitchell has made a career of." That's what they thought and and it was a great idea. They were on to a winner. It's completely daft, bears little or no relation to actual police work, but it doesn't matter a jot. Mitchell is great, Anna Maxwell Martin is a delight - she is great at portraying really nice people (I remember Esther Summerson from 19 years ago) - and Dipo Ola is great as the sidekick (what a great voice he has). What's not so great is casting Dylan Hughes as 15 year old. It's laughable. He is likeable and can act OK (except not as a schoolboy. Really, can't they find any decent teenage actors? I know they exist.) I watched the whole series while laid low with a virus. It was just the right thing.

A gripping central story, expertly told and a great cast of actors - from David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin, to the rest of the central cast (such as Dipo Ola, Izuka Hoyle and Sophie Willan) to the guests who crop up each week as he they have further mysteries to solve - particularly great to see Derek Jacobi still going strong.

I found it very funny but it also contained plenty of peril, not least that you're not sure what is and is not true or who they should trust.

We devoured all six episodes in three or four nights and frankly we're already clamouring for more. Please can everyone else watch it so we can have season two!