‘Ludwig’ Officially Lands 2026 Christmas Special
'Ludwig' will bring us a brand new puzzle for Christmas 2026 in its first-ever Festive Special.
Call the Midwife isn’t releasing its usual Christmas episode for the festive season due to Sister In Arms, and while Bookish has landed one for the first time, PBS shows no signs of bringing it over here. Thankfully, however, one show has its Christmas geese in a row, as BritBox announces that Ludwig will get its first-ever holiday-timed mystery to solve.
The guest cast they’ll be joined by is absolutely stellar. The top name is Sir David Suchet (Poirot), who will, of course, play the murder suspect. The rest of the guest star roster will include Jason Flemyng (Prime Target), Joe Wilkinson (Douglas Is Canceled), Cathy Tyson (Blue Lights), Alexandra Roach (Y Golau/The Light in the Hall), Kiell Smith-Bynoe (The Reluctant Vampire), Rebekah Staton (Criminal Record), Claire Price (The Capture), George Rainsford (Call the Midwife), and Ariella Glaser (Flavia).
Ludwig’s smashing success practically guaranteed it a holiday berth as part of the BBC festive lineup sooner rather than later. Season 2, which debuted in the U.K. on August 20, came in with a massive 2.8m viewers for its first week, and is expected to comfortably win its slot in the ratings battle over the next five episodes. Moreover, the series is one of BritBox’s big subscriber drivers – until The Other Bennet Sister debuted in May 2026, Ludwig held the record for bringing in the most first-time viewers to the service.
With Bennet Sister also slated for a Christmas return in 2026 (with a three-episode special!), BritBox is now planning on riding out the holidays on the backs of its two most popular series. With zero competition from PBS right now, it might just be a very BritBox Holiday for Americans looking for their dose of Christmas crackers.
Here’s the Christmas special synopsis:
Set in Yorkshire, the 60-minute Christmas episode sees John, Lucy and Henry arrive at a remote Christmas-themed hotel for what should have been a much-needed escape, when a sudden blackout turns the festivities into a locked-room murder mystery. Trapped by a blizzard and cut off from the outside world, the guests must spend the night with a killer in their midst. With John reluctantly pulled into one of his strangest puzzles yet, the race is on for the Taylors to solve the crime before Christmas.
The Christmas special will apparently not feature the entire cast, just the central leads: Mitchell (Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping) as Ludwig (and maybe his twin brother, James), Anna Maxwell Martin (Line of Duty) as Lucy Betts-Taylor, John’s sister-in-law, Dylan Hughes (Death By Lightning) as her son, Henry Betts-Taylor, and Dipo Ola (We Hunt Together) as DI Russell Carter.
The press release, as always, has Mitchell over the moon about landing the Best Poirot ever to play the role. “I have long been a huge admirer of Sir David Suchet’s work and have watched every episode of Poirot several times, so it was a dream come true for me when he agreed to appear in the Ludwig Christmas Special. He was an absolute joy to work and spend time with - funny, interesting, and generous - and his performance in the program is wonderful.”
Suchet, meanwhile, was just glad not to have to break down whodunit: “It made quite the refreshing change to be playing a suspect rather than the detective, and to sit comfortably in my armchair while David delivered the denouement. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time.”
Series creator Mark Brotherhood wrote the special, with Season 3 director Chris Foggin helming the episode and Georgie Fallon producing. Brotherhood and Mitchell executive produce with Kenton Allen & Toby Welch for Big Talk Studios; Claus Wunn & Frank Seyberth for ZDF; and Kathryn O’Connor, Chris Sussman, Robert Schildhouse & Stephen Nye for BritBox.
Ludwig Season 2 will debut on BritBox as a weekly release starting Tuesday, October 13, 2026, and running through mid-November. (We will update if/when the series gets an early release binge on BritBox Premier.)
Ludwig
The Ludwig Christmas Special will air and stream in December 2026. Season 3 is currently in production.
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