LUDWIG - wed bbc 1 9pm - TV PACE NO SPOILERS

[Blondeshavemorefun]

New series on weekly - thanks @mum2jakie for the shout out

Puzzle setter John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor’s life is upended when his identical twin, DCI James Taylor, disappears in the new series coming to BBC iPlayer and BBC One

When John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor’s (David Mitchell) 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 has never married, never had a family and never really ventured further than his own front door.

Without a computer, mobile phone or even a television, he lives in quiet solitude, designing puzzles for a living, under the nom-de-plume of ‘Ludwig’.

However, filling the shoes of your identical twin is one thing - when your twin also happens to be a successful DCI leading Cambridge’s busy inner-city major crimes team the stakes are much higher.

John may be a master of all things cryptic, but can he crack the biggest puzzle of his life?

Joining David Mitchell in the ‘case-of-the-week’ crime comedy-drama is Anna Maxwell Martin (Motherland, Line of Duty), as Lucy Betts-Taylor, John’s sister-in-law and wife of his missing brother James.

Also joining the cast are Dipo Ola (Landscapers, We Hunt Together), Gerran Howell (Catch-22, Suspicion), Izuka Hoyle (Boiling Point, Big Boys), Dylan Hughes (Malory Towers, Maternal), and Dorothy Atkinson (Mum, The Gold).

I think fundamentally it’s about the murders and the puzzle solving.

I think that’s what is so escapist and satisfying about this genre, the light meringue of a pleasing plot.

Another thing that I like about it is that it’s not gritty. It is cosy murder of the old school. So even though the crime at the centre would be an absolute abomination if it happened in real life, we all benefit from the murder-mystery convention - if you like, the Agatha Christie tradition – so we don’t dwell on what murder really is, on the horrific nature of the crime.

We focus on the context and the mystery and the play of human emotions that leads to it.

In Ludwig we don’t dwell on the fact that it’s murder any more than in a game of Cluedo you’d start thinking, ‘But how awful for Doctor Black’s family. He must be so missed.’

I think she's plenty sure! But we'll see.

Ok so I’m pretty sure guy on James’s phone is his partner who fled. DCI Matt Neville is his name if I remember correctly. From the affection and the worry in tone and context of what he says and the quick hang up.

So that made me think he was the one watching and tracking, and looking at the stuff on the board made me think they confirmed that. An itinerary for a journey from Cambridge to Newport. A note saying “not similar to James approach solving previous cases” on the article where John is quoted saying well like all cases like this, something about variable. The shot through the Betts-Taylor Cambridge family home. A remnant of an internal transfer form. I didn’t recognise the S shaped road, assumed it was Newport - is it Cambridge?

but actually I think it’s Holly again. Computer coding screen. Access to all those papers and images and cctv shots. Why would she go to Newport though? Maybe the same reason she covers for DCI Taylor? Is she bigger than Ziegler and investigating the fishy transfer and Sinclair case herself?

I think this series has struck a chord because it works so well on several levels: the wacky comedy, the James/John/Lucy triangle, the overall story-arc with James' disappearance, etc.

I think James is living in John's house. Nobody would notice because they look the same.
My husband keeps complaining about the lights not being turned on in the Cambridge house.

I missed the first episode so am a little lost.
I don't have access to the BBC IPlayer.
But at least there's a new murder mystery every week.
Gosh it's dangerous in Cambridge - so many murders.
A bit like Midsomer, Bergerac's Jersey and the Shetland Isles. 😉

I'd pay to have iPlayer. I hate missing things on BBC.

Can't you VPN around that, @eggandonion ? I assume you're not in the UK. Not that I know anything about it, but I gather it's doable.

Ooh I like this theory. I’m enjoying it so much. Have downloaded last 2 episodes to watch as we are away from Wednesday and actually have downloaded all episodes so I can rewatch for any missed clues once I’ve seen all the episodes.

I often binge but am enjoying it too much to binge if that makes sense!

I think making educated @BakeOffRewatch when not watched everything is ok.

@BakeOffRewatch sounds like you should be on Ludwig 😂

Very observant of you

Have you read my recaps I put up

We lost our vpn in lockdown . Apparently as I don't know what it is either. Channel 5 and itv3 have gone missing. So I miss classic corrie and Saturday night royal progs.
I do like Ludwig, I hope a second series will work.

I have indeed read the recaps you put up @Blondeshavemorefun.
Thank you 💐

Pleasure. I love a recap as sometimes things I miss watching

Yeeees! Why do they live in semi-darkness?!? 😂

It seems a universal in TV drama that people walk into their own homes, and don't do what everyone else does, and switch on the lights, but rather, walk in darkness into the kitchen.

Especially when there is a murderer on the loose. Taggart is the prime one for me. I was always yelling switch the bloody lights on.

This !
Absolutely.
It's instinctive to immediately turn on the lights as you move through the house.

Haha just a lot of time at the moment. There was also a newspaper cutting about the importance of tech investment in economy which made me think Holly but why would she care?

Watched episode 1 with DH last night, he thinks James specifically drawing in John is because James wants John’s help to solve the Sinclair case business. He really wants to binge watch but has been great and gone along with the weekly watching.

I love having it on in the background, the soundtrack is on Spotify and there’s also a music that inspired Ludwig soundtrack.

https://open.spotify.com/album/3aho2Iikg3odjXQCnuBtcO Ludwig (Original Television Soundtrack)

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4hV55u3VCOHWt6CqiZgAHC Ludwig (Music that inspired the score to the BBC series) - playlist by Big Talk Studios. A selection of compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven that inspired composers Nathan Klein and Finn Keane in creating the original score to the BBC crime ...

It's nice not to binge

And chat about each episode

Watched episode 1 with DH last night, he thinks James specifically drawing in John is because James wants John’s help to solve the Sinclair case business.

If so, it's a pretty arcane way of setting about it. Terrifying his own wife, too. If James wanted John's help, why not just pick up the phone and ask him?

He can’t / won’t even ask him for Christmas! @Blondeshavemorefun has made a few good points about James taking charge and leaving people out of the decision making, implying a bit of a mean streak with control and not allowing others autonomy, which you could expand on to mean manipulation. Just watching the first episode again, Lucy’s words about his work life being completely separate ring loud.

I’m worried how silly my guessing posts will look in two weeks time, they probably won’t age well at all!

Not at all

I hope we find out where he is but that means no s2 but prob won't

E5 tonight

John a s gang go back to school to investigate the death of the headmaster

And a shocking revelation leaves John reeling

🙀🙀🙀

What will he find out

James is alive

Johns a dad

Or something else

I’m here! I'll be upset if we don’t find out who is watching them today. There needs to be some development in the overarching story line. We haven’t had anything since the Sinclair report surfacing. Ep1 was set up of DCI Taylor disappearing, Ep2 was finding the Sinclair report on the fax, Ep3 was finding out about DCI Russel Carter’s relationship with Ziegler as his nearly father-in-law and his internal transfer, Ep4 was someone watching them. So I don’t feel like we actually learned anything since Ep2 towards solving the mystery.