It's a long wait for Death in Paradise season 14, so in the meantime I seek out other cosy cop shows and I've found an absolute gem in Ludwig,
Essentially Ludwig is Death in Paradise in Cambridge. Funnily enough, David Mitchell was actually lined up to star in the first series of Death in Paradise, before pulling out because he found love with his future wife Victoria Coren. Bless!
David didn't want to be out in the Caribbean for six months away from Victoria so turned down the part of DI Richard Poole, eventually played perfectly by Ben Miller.
Back to Ludwig, which sees Mitchell play John "Ludwig" Taylor, a man who lives a quiet, lonely life setting puzzles. But then his identical twin cop brother James goes missing and his sister-in-law Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin) pleads with him to help. To find James, John impersonates him at the police station and soon discovers he's rather good at solving murders.
Like Death in Paradise, Ludwig plays up on the whole fish-out-of-water vibe with John struggling to adapt to his new environment, just as every new lead does in DIP.
There are lots of other similarities. Just like Ralf Little's DI Neville Parker, John is nerdy and truly brilliant at solving crimes. He is ably helped by his team, with Dipo Ola's DI Russell Carter taking on a similar supporting act to Joséphine Jobert's DI Florence Cassell in Death in Paradise.
The relationship John has with his boss, DCS Carol Shaw (Dorothy Atkins), also reminds me of the one Kris Marshall's DI Humphrey Goodman had with The Commissioner (Don Warrington). There's respect between them, but also a sense of fear! I especially love the way that John pauses slightly before addressing Shaw as ma'am at the end of each sentence.
Like Death in Paradise, Ludwig also makes much of its beautiful setting. Indeed in Ludwig episode 3, John and Russell literally go on a tour of Cambridge as they try to solve the murder of a guide in a church.
Just like the Death in Paradise leads, John is a single man who's rather lonely. The Death in Paradise cops have all suffered romantic turmoil, in John's case it seems he's always been in love with his brother's wife Lucy. If we do get Ludwig season 2, then hopefully that relationship will be explored further.
Each series also has cracking guest stars, with Felicity Kendal, Sir Derek Jacobi and Rose Ayling-Ellis among the suspects in Ludwig.
If you've not seen Ludwig — the whole series is available now on iPlayer — and especially if you love Death in Paradise, I'd highly recommend giving it a watch. After all Death in Paradise season 14 won't be on our screens until January 2025...
