Just give him the Bafta now. If we must, let’s watch the remaining five episodes of Ludwig (BBC1, Wed) first, and then give the star David Mitchell the gong for most promising cosy crime drama — because that’s what it is, with bells on.
While the set-up was slightly convoluted, once you got your head around that, it was a laugh-out loud hour of entertainment.
Mitchell plays John Taylor, a crossword setter who goes by the pen name of Ludwig. Incidentally, music nerds will enjoy the creative soundtrack with parts of Beethoven’s Ninth and Seventh symphonies woven into the theme as we go along.
Otherwise, everything is Seventies here, including his childhood, but also John’s thinking. The design and production were superb, all brown and wooden with dangerous open staircases. We were spirited back to the moment when the twin boys John and James learned the traumatic news that dad had left home.
But it’s David Mitchell’s witty, barely grown-up curmudgeon who transports us into his weird world when his sister-in-law Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin) asks him to investigate the disappearance of his twin brother James.
John, however, doesn’t like going beyond his own door man let alone travel to downtown Cambridge to impersonate his detective brother. His world to that point has involved music, crosswords and a wall-mounted mustard-coloured telephone — with a cord!
When Lucy books a car for her brother-in-law, John screams, “A taxi outside my house?!!”
To be honest for the first 10 minutes, I ticked off other jaunty, cosy crime shows, such as Only Murders in the Building, Marlow Murders, even McDonald & Dodds. They’re shows where we don’t so much care about the victim — or investigator — as we do about solving the puzzle.
By comparison, tuning into a murder mystery like Grace (ITV, Sun) was like watching a slasher movie. We’re all very cosy now, thank you.
I was so invested in the comedy that by the time Ludwig reached the police station in Cambridge, that I was howling away at him trying to park an old Volvo like a bad learner driver, lurching from one space to another.
Of course, if you take the show seriously the police would have twigged within moments that they had an imposter on their hands and would have arrested him. What a satisfying drama that would have been.
As it happened, he managed to solve a murder in 10 minutes by looking at a whiteboard. I thought our other TV detectives were taking their time…
Let’s hope Ludwig can run and run. My personal entertainment threshold is so low now I just want to watch more bad parking.
My second TV treat of the week was the return of Mortimer & Whitehouse Gone Fishing (BBC2, Sun). This show, eight series young, still has much to recommend itself. It’s great having it on a Sunday night, a nice way of winding down as the working week approaches.
Everyone should have a Whitehouse or Mortimer on tap with a few gags and well-worn phrases to make us feel better. Perhaps we can have an NHS recorded helpline.
We were in Norfolk this week which looked green and pleasant. Oh and there was a big pond in the middle into which they cast their lines with a hope of landing a few. Unusually, they absolutely lucked out, hooking a big shiny tench.
Bob, however, was a tad morbid as he settled pondside: “I could sit here till my death…” he said, rather grimly. I can see the series already: Watching Bob, Watching a Fishing Line. Stranger things have been greenlit.
The photography continues to be first-rate. There was a wistful slow-mo shot of a blue dragonfly lifting off from a bending reed. This whole world is rather slow-mo.
And the programme is really about a trio, if you include Ted the dog, who gets just as many laughs.
My Mum, Your Dad (ITV, Tues) plodded along like an interminable date. The series started well, but the crew this year are far too wary of what things will look like on camera, so we’re not nearly getting as many hilarious moments.
Fundamentally, they’re not game enough. I know that sounds cruel, but no one forces them to do reality TV.
It’s hard to see any long-term relationships developing from this, except maybe for Danny, the reformed adulterer, and happy but cautious Jenny. But don’t put money on it.
Finally, Grace (ITV, Sun) concluded its season with not one but two evil women. One was Grace’s estranged wife Sandy who may well be dead (again), and a black widow (Laura Haddock) with a talent for using snake poison on rich men with big boats.
We also learnt that Adriatic ports near Split can’t accommodate yachts over 60 metres.
I’ll cancel my order then.
