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.’

Def enjoyable @daffodilandtulip

Will he be found by end of s1

Or will be be a s2

I just love the way he solves the murders

Well they can't find him if they want a series 2??

That's a good point @daffodilandtulip

Agree, I remember that too! Although then we got a roll of sticky backed plastic and there was quite an art to covering books without getting wrinkles in the plastic.

Anyhow, thought Ludwig was great. May try upstart crow next.

I've watched the first 3 episodes for a sense check and now debating whether to watch the rest so I get the joy of watching this twice. Not my usual thing tbh as a bit too gentle but I've got really into it!

E4 tonight

A body falls from the 4th floor construction

Accident or murder

Can’t believe it’s Wednesday again already. Really enjoying having this, it gets me through hump day and marks the beginning of the week.

I’ve really got into Upstart Crow, it’s really clever though you do need to know some Shakespeare!

I mean it marks the beginning of the end of the week 🤦

I thought it was Wednesday yesterday and so watched it via streaming. I have missed an episode of The Hardacres to catch up on.

I haven't started Joan, which also has a thread and now see DI Ray series 2 mentioned, but I can't recall seeing series 1, so will have to avoid that thread until I find out if I want to get involved with that one too.

I decided I wasn't going to bother with Joan, based on the rather lurid and OTT trailers. But I see reviews have been pretty favourable. But too late now.

The drama ' Joan ' can be found on ITV X.

Joan was good. Really enjoyed

I don't R.E.M. di Ray even tho I did a thread about it 😂

Hardacres good

There is nothing good on tue or thur at the moment

Where Sunday has

Rich house poor house
Showtrail
Di ray
Towie

I'm enjoying Ludwig, mainly because I like Anna Maxwell Martin and also because while the actual crimes are a bit so-called 'cosy' and wrapped up in the episode, there's more dimension to the main characters and the underlying mystery of their own.

Hmmmm I saying one of the men did it

Not the girl or foreman but not sure which one of the offers

So are we thinking that John and Lucy had a thing before she married James? Maybe not a full blown relationship but there have been a couple of little hints, major one bring she's kept the four leaf clover that John gave her years ago.

Maybe she sniffed the wrong twin one time

Solved by animals kids chess set 😂

Clever again

So who was at the end of the phone

His partner ?

Why didn't he take the phone with him ?

Love the way facial recognition worked 😂

Who is the shadow figure who know they are twins and that John is James

E4 recap

www.whattowatch.com/features/ludwig-episode-4-recap-is-holly-pinder-good-or-bad

I wondered if Lucy was teary because she’s been wondering about whether she married the right twin after all? I liked that she used the laminated lucky clover as her bookmark - all those years later.

I had absolutely no idea who did it, but I don’t think it would be possible from connecting clues anyway, that’s the premise. Whilst John was explaining the chess moves, I could tell who it was, his reactions and facial expressions during John’s explanation were completely different to the other people around the table. The others looked bewildered and confused. I loved this episode, it was John catching himself and providing insight on himself, his insecurity about NOT being the smartest person in the room as that’s all he’s got, as well as being arrogant and proud and unable to not let an unsolved puzzle go - he can’t not win, or tolerate being bested.

The murderer is the same actor from a gym based comedy called Peacock, so it was hard to reconcile that character with this super smart one!

I think Lucy held a candle for John and it’s one way. She clearly admires his intellect and is frustrated by his limiting self belief that he’s weird and rubbish and struggles where he assumes others don’t. His response to her asking if he wants to watch a film tells us all we need to know about his regard for her in the emotional and companionship aspects. He’s just in it for the puzzles. He’s got the motive of a sociopath 😉

I'm enjoying this too much and you’re going to have to find me another TV pace series in two weeks’ time @Blondeshavemorefun

It reminds me of BBC Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. I still watch that a lot. DH caught me saying “They don’t make tv like that anymore” the other day…

Still find it really off putting how Henry doesn’t have any spoken lines in a scene with someone else, when he speaks his shots are alone and separate. Did they change the actor last minute or something?

I don't think Lucy thinks she 'married the wrong twin'. We don't know what James is 'like', but we do know that John is, frankly, bloody hard work. That's not say she's not fond of John, though, of course.

Lucy seems heavy going too.

Birds of a feather...

I can't wait to find out what James is like, if we ever do. I get the impression John always felt inferior to him, maybe James is a bit meaner and wasn't particularly nice to him growing up. John said the only thing he could ever beat him at was chess so implies it was always a competition with James.

We also don’t know yet why James never invited John to Christmas even though Lucy always asked John. That intrigued me because it implies a fall out as a single upsetting event, but then your beloved wife of years wouldn’t disrespect that. So it was a slow burn resentment and growing apart?

i agree from what we’ve seen the dynamic is that James took charge and dismissed James’s agency and desires at the same time as doing him a favour. Like taking away the bird book. I didn’t think that was nice.

My more dramatic ideas included that Henry is actually John’s son when they were bonding over chess