‘Ludwig’ Adds Stephen Merchant to Season 2
BritBox announces a brand new addition to the 'Ludwig' Season 2 cast, as the series lands a BBC release date.
Ludwig continues to land high-profile castings as Season 2 prepares to debut on BBC One. The hit comedy has revealed a pair of brand-new first-look photos of Stephen Merchant (The Outlaws), who is set to guest star next season.
It’s unclear right now if his role is meant to be recurring or if he’s simply a one-and-done appearance. As a case-of-the-week-style mystery, Ludwig is a natural vehicle for single-episode appearances by both up-and-coming actors and well-established stars. Season 1, for example, featured guest star turns by everyone from Derek Jacobi (I, Claudius), Hammed Animashaun (Black Ops), Ella Bruccoleri (The Other Bennet Sister), and Rose Ayling-Ellis (Code of Silence).
The press release states that Merchant will play “Danny Sloane, a cocky snooker champion” who finds himself at odds with the titular Ludwig in the season’s fourth episode. While that certainly sounds like a one-and-done for the comedian, it most likely depends on that hour’s whodunit.
(Though, as we noted in a recent episode of Grantchester, if we assume the Law of Guest Stars is in effect, he’s almost certainly that week’s murderer.)
Here’s the Season 2 synopsis:
Picking up from the end of series one, master puzzle-setter John 'Ludwig' Taylor is now a Crime Scene Consultant, working alongside DCI Russell Carter, on 'impossible' crimes for the Cambridge Police Authority. No longer having to masquerade as his brother, he’s openly more 'Ludwig' than ever - brilliant at solving puzzles but hopeless at everything else. But John’s identical twin brother, James, is still missing, and now that he’s an official employee of the station, John is forbidden from using any police resources to look for his brother or uncover exactly what he was investigating.
Of course, John won’t stop, and neither will Lucy, John’s sister-in-law and wife of his missing brother James - a puzzle needs solving, and a husband and father needs bringing home. One masquerade may have ended, but a new one has just begun.
Mitchell returns as Ludwig (and James), with Anna Maxwell Martin (Line of Duty) as Lucy Betts-Taylor, John’s sister-in-law, and Dylan Hughes (Death By Lightning) as her son, Henry Betts-Taylor. The ensemble also includes Dorothy Atkinson (The Gold) as DCS Carol Shaw, Dipo Ola (We Hunt Together) as DI Russell Carter, Ralph Ineson (The Jetty) as Chief Constable Ziegler, and Karl Pilkington (Rain Dogs) as DI Matt Neville.
Season 2 will introduce new series regulars Ben Ashenden (Hijack) as DC Ethan Cole, and Rumi Sutton (After the Flood) as DC Caitlin Sullivan. Other new Season 2 additions include Mark Bonnar (Dept Q) as newspaper editor Gareth Fisher, and Sian Clifford (Fleabag) as local MP Joanne Kemper.
Ben Ashenden, Rumi Sutton, Dipo Ola, David Mitchell, Dorothy Atkinson, Ralph Ineson, Anna Maxwell Martin, Dylan Hughes, Sian Clifford, and Mark Bonnar in 'Ludwig' Season 2 (BBC/Big Talk Studios/Olly Courtney)
Mark Brotherhood (The Trouble with Maggie Cole) returns to pen another six episodes. Directors George Kane (The Completely Made Up Adventures of Dick Turpin) and Stella Corradi (Killing Eve) split helming duties across Season 2’s six installments; the producer is Georgie Fallon.
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 Thursday, August 20, 2026, at 9 p.m. on BBC One, and binge-drop the season’s first three episodes on iPlayer the same day. The series is expected to cross the pond directly after concluding on iPlayer, debuting before the end of October on BritBox.
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