First-look images of David Mitchell and cast in season two of Ludwig released

First-look images of season two of the cryptic BBC comedy drama Ludwig show David Mitchell’s John “Ludwig” Taylor as a crime scene consultant.

Comedian Mitchell and Motherland’s Anna Maxwell Martin have returned for the second season of the acclaimed detective series, with Fleabag star Sian Clifford and Scottish actor Mark Bonnar joining the cast as regulars.

The newly-released pictures show Clifford, 44, walking down the stairs as local MP Joanne Kemper, and Bonnar, 57, sitting behind a cluttered desk as newspaper editor Gareth Fisher.

Other pictures show the cast in what appears to be a police station, with Maxwell Martin standing in front of a crime investigation cork-board, and Ralph Ineson as Chief Constable Ziegler.

Season two of Ludwig, which is due to air later this year on BBC iPlayer and BBC One, will pick up from the end of the first series.

Mitchell’s John is now employed as a crime scene consultant, working alongside Dipo Ola’s DCI Russell Carter on crimes for the Cambridge Police Authority.

John’s identical twin brother, James, is still missing, but the consultant has been banned from using any police resources to look for his sibling or uncover exactly what he was investigating.

But John will not stop, and neither will Maxwell Martin’s Lucy – who is the wife of his missing brother James.

The first season of Ludwig attracted over 9.5 million viewers in 28 days and became the BBC’s biggest scripted series since 2024 and the biggest comedy launch episode since at least 2018.

Also returning for the second season of Ludwig is Dylan Hughes as Henry Betts-Taylor, Dorothy Atkinson as DCS Carol Shaw and Karl Pilkington as DI Matt Neville.

Alongside Bonnar and Clifford, Deep Cover’s Ben Ashenden and Mutiny’s Rumi Sutton are also joining the cast.

The series is created and written by Mark Brotherhood and produced by Big Talk Studios, part of ITV Studios, in association with That Mitchell and Webb Company.