‘Ludwig’ Christmas Special Set at BBC, BritBox With Guest Star and Famed ‘Poirot’ Actor David Suchet

Logo text David Suchet will go from hunter to hunted in Ludwig‘s newly announced Christmas special, with the famed Poirot actor set to play a murder suspect. David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin, who lead the cosy crime series for the BBC and BritBox, will return, alongside co-stars Jason Flemyng, Joe Wilkinson, Cathy Tyson, Alexandra Roach and Kiell Smith-Bynoe. With series two of the Emmy-winning Ludwig currently airing to great success on BBC iPlayer and BBC One — and with series three now in production — the Christmas special comes as welcome news to fans of Mark Brotherhood’s show. Suchet, the English star behind one of television’s most famous detectives in Agatha Christie’s Poirot (1989-2013), joined Mitchell for a festive photo op, released on Wednesday to celebrate the announcement. Set in Yorkshire, the hour-long 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. “It was an absolute pleasure to work alongside David Mitchell and the wonderful ensemble cast,” said Suchet about joining the special. “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,” he added. Actor-comedian Mitchell, known for Peep Show and various British panel show appearances, said he has watched every episode of Suchet’s Poirot several times. “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 programme is wonderful.” The smash hit detective series is created and written by Mark Brotherhood, and produced by Big Talk Studios (part of ITV Studios) in collaboration with That Mitchell and Webb Company, in co-production with BritBox and ZDF. The Ludwig Christmas episode is written by Mark Brotherhood, and the director is Chris Foggin, who is also currently directing series three of Ludwig. The executive producers are Kenton Allen and Toby Welch for Big Talk Studios, Mark Brotherhood, David Mitchell, Kathryn O’Connor and Chris Sussman; Robert Schildhouse and Stephen Nye for BritBox; Claus Wunn and Frank Seyberth executive produce for ZDF. The producer of the Christmas episode is Georgie Fallon, with Anya Wilson serving as co-producer. The Christmas episode was commissioned by Jon Petrie, BBC director of comedy commissioning. The commissioning editor for the BBC is Gregor Sharp. Ludwig is produced in association with ITV Studios, which also handles international distribution.