Ludwig: Puzzle setter John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor’s life is upended when his identical twin, DCI James Taylor, disappears

If we are to compare it to Ringer, then we have David Mitchell in the Sarah Michelle Gellar role – which is not a sentence we ever thought we would write.

Mitchell plays identical twins, but more specifically the titular character, puzzle-setter John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor. John is an introspective fellow, quiet and solitary; his brother James meanwhile is an outgoing family man, and a successful Detective Chief Inspector within Cambridgeshire’s busy Major Investigations Team.

Then one day James goes missing, and in order to solve that mystery John decides to step into his twin’s shoes – and his ready-made life, family and all.

It turns out that, as difficult as the grisly crime scenes of James’s day-job are, it’s the challenges of being a dad that most perplex John. Although, as he tries to keep James’ reputation by cracking cases, he finds he has one unique advantage: he is able to see the whole world as if it were a puzzle.

All the while, however, he is secretly working on solving the biggest puzzle of his life.

Starring alongside Mitchell is the ever-excellent Bafta-winner Anna Maxwell-Martin (Line of Duty, Motherland), Dipo Ola (We Hunt Together), Izuka Hoyle (Boiling Point) and the stand-up comic, writer and actor Sophie Willan (Alma’s Not Normal).

It’s a brilliant blend of dramatic and comedy actors, which proves just how determined the creators are to ensure that neither aspect is overshadowed: it is funny throughout, true, but that doesn’t mean it can’t also be exciting and gripping.

And the best bit is, the format allows for a ‘case-of-the-week’ style plot, whereby the wider arc takes a back seat to whatever case John is attempting to crack.

Mitchell explains that this was one of the reasons he felt drawn to Mark Brotherhood’s scripts in the first place, saying: “A lot more television programmes these days are serials. You have to keep watching to kind of get anything. In Ludwig there are rewards for keeping watching every week but equally there is a story in each episode that is resolved, hopefully in a pleasing and intriguing way … I like the fact that you get some sort of resolution with Ludwig in one sitting”.

He continues: “It struck me that this was a really fun, funny and different idea. The comedy of a fish out of water but a fish out of water who, if I am going to stretch this metaphor, can nevertheless walk around relatively effectively because of what his previous job in the water was. That’s a great situation”.

It’s a quintessentially “David Mitchell” description; exec producer Kenton Allen meanwhile is more straightforward: “Ludwig is a classic crime drama with a unique twist. That unique twist being that the lead detective is not a detective, but his twin brother is”.

Well, quite.