David Mitchell to star as an identical twin in new BBC comedy

David Mitchell at the BAFTA awards
David Mitchell has a new comedy series coming to BBC. (Image credit: Getty Images)

David Mitchell is taking on two roles in a new BBC comedy series, which sees him playing identical twin brothers John and James Taylor.

The six-part series is written by Mount Pleasant and Benidorm's Mark Brotherhood and follows the titular Ludwig character as he tries to find out what happened to his brother by assuming his identity.

Peep Show and Would I Lie To You? star David Mitchell is at the centre of the new project, with further casting yet to be confirmed by the BBC.

The official plot for Ludwig is: "When John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor’s (David Mitchell) identical twin, DCI James Taylor, 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’.

David Mitchell, Rob Brydon and Lee Mack in Would I Lie To You?

David Mitchell is one of the long-running team captains on BBC's Would I Lie To You? (Image credit: BBC)

It adds: "This genre-bending detective series follows full-time luddite, John 'Ludwig' Taylor, as he assumes the identity of his missing twin brother in a bid to track him down and bring him home. 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?"

So far we don't have any first-look images or trailers for Ludwig, but it has recently been announced by the BBC as part of their new comedy slate, which also includes 11 new shorts.

The new comedy shorts will air on BBC Three and a new trailer has arrived to give us a first look at what to expect from the varied lineup.

It's got everything from a film set on a desolate train track to a horror folklore comedy to a story about two emotionally stunted lads from  Northern Ireland, so there's plenty to sink your teeth into.

Speaking about the shorts, Jon Petrie, Director of Comedy, says: “It’s been exciting to create a space for comedy creatives to flex their funny bones and we’re particularly proud to have given 11 new writers and 6 new directors their first BBC Comedy credit. We can’t wait to see them go out.”

The films will be available to watch from Friday, May 26 on BBC iPlayer, making them the perfect binge-watch material. 

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Now she works for our sister site TechRadar in the same role. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.

She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress