"Ludwig" and the continued brilliance of David Mitchell.

The new light-but-smart mystery on BritBox highlights the appeal of one of Britain's best comic actors.

A strange thing happened last week when I went to have one final should-I-cancel-or-not peek at BritBox, the streaming giant from The BBC and ITV. I do this with streamers periodically and it was BritBox’s turn, since I hadn’t been using it much.

Once there, of course, I got a look at that very, very deep vault of classic British series and it gave me pause. But I wanted something fresh, I reminded myself, not to go back in time, although the first thing I did was look at “Utopia” ( a relatively recent series in fairness) and think, “Well, knowing both seasons are right there is worth the monthly fee without anything else.”

I am not wrong about that.

I noticed that David Mitchell was in a new series — that’s not a particularly surprising notion if you know anything about Mitchell, one of Britain’s funniest comics, an ever-present face on plenty of funny British “panel” shows, including the brilliant and long running “Would I Lie to You?,” plus one half to the “Mitchell and Webb” comedy duo (with Robert Webb), whose last collaboration, “Back,” was one of my favorite under-the-radar comedies (two seasons ran between 2017-2021).

A new series? Of course he was in one. He’s in everything.

David Mitchell, overwhelmed by life, as usual.

But was BritBox worth keeping was the question? Fundamentally I already knew it was one of the best bang-for-your-buck streamers out there. But I wanted to add a couple of new ones — more on that in a coming column — and something had to go.

I dove deeper and, honestly, there were dozens of reasons why it was worth holding on to, and I immediately got sucked into watching S1, Ep. 1 of “Peep Show,” one of the first break out hits for Mitchell and Webb, which ran nine seasons. I had started loving that series later in its run, so watching from the start was a great joy and I made plans to find the time to binge it all.

As I poured over the strangely-worded “collections” on BritBox (in fairness, that vault is so deep it needs something a bit catchy to send you down the various rabbit holes), there, jammed amongst the classics, was “Panel Channel,” where you can find out exactly why the Brits love these “celebrities parlor games” of quick wit and simple conversational fun, with Mitchell appearing in what seems like an endless amount of them.

So that was fairly easy — I’m keeping BritBox, I said. And before I go, how about I watch the first episode of “Ludwig,” which ought to contrast nicely with the first episode of “Peep Show” for a look at Mitchell’s varied career.

And there it was. Your next must-watch series.

So far only two episodes of “Ludwig” have premiered, with one coming each week, so you can catch up quickly (if you have BritBox, which you should absolutely consider if not; the series was a huge hit in Britain when it rolled out in late 2024 and has been renewed for a second season).

A pretty solid argument could be made that I struggle with “light fare,” although I often feel the need to push back on that despite the mountain of evidence that does exist against me. I mean, I’m clearly not an “Only Murders In the Building” type of person, although I tried (and it ended badly). I think my friend Jason Snell said it best by noting that why are you even trying, those are not your kinds of shows. He wasn’t wrong.

The problem is I can watch all kinds of easily digestible British mysteries — and the Brits lead the world in that category, both qualitatively and quantitatively — but I struggle with similarly mid-tier, entertain the masses, American series.

I think, with “Ludwig,” as my best example, I know why. By and large the British series are both written better and acted more convincingly (especially when the need arises to cover up weaker writing) than their American counterparts.

In the case of “Ludwig,” you’ve got the classic, oft-repeated (on both shores; hell, many shores) concept of “cop/not a cop.” In the world of murder mysteries this trope is unbeatable. The light murder mystery genre, where sleuthing not shooting is the focus and everyone is mostly pleasant, though oftentimes eccentric, is thoroughly dominated by the Brits.

That’s not to say that they don’t join the rest of the world in enjoying some grittier, bloodier fare, but they pull off this easily ruinous light fare with time honored style and grace that American series tend to lack, often appearing too smug or slapstick or just trying too hard to be quirky (and rarely clever).

In “Ludwig,” the writing is smart, the moments are genuinely funny thanks to Mitchell — who plays the put-upon, world-weary/tortured type like nobody else — and there are hints that creator and writer Mark Brotherhood is going to take the series in at least one other potentially intriguing direction.

Mitchell stars as John “Ludwig” Taylor, a successful puzzle maker (called puzzle “setter” in the UK) whose mind craves order and meaning, quiet and solitude, which means he’s a very successful agoraphobe whose life is essentially all analog (and all alone, which is how he likes it, or thinks he likes it).

But John is the twin brother of Detective Chief Inspector James Taylor (Mitchell) of the Cambridge Police, who is married to Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin) who grew up with both boys as their best friend. Lucy pulls John into an emergency situation — her husband and his twin brother is missing, or rather in hiding, with only a cryptic letter and scattered clues as to why. Completely unprepared for the task, Ludwig has to pose as his brother the detective in order to unravel the mystery of his disappearance.

Ludwig is spectacularly ill-suited for this, of course, but Mitchell is the perfect choice to play this character and make the scenario real.

If you’re familiar with a show like this, it won’t be surprising — but it will be funny — to find out that Ludwig accidentally solves a murder on his first day, when all he was supposed to do was sneak in and get a notebook his brother left at the police station that has coded clues in it.

I immediately loved “Ludwig” for the ease of watching, the humor, the stellar cast, the excellent acting (of course), but mostly for the fact it reminded me that, yes, I do like light fare, provided it’s done with style and isn’t so relentlessly American Dumb (or, in even more fairness, Euro Bad).

If you’d like some much-needed escapist fare from these bleak times, let Mitchell, BritBox and “Ludwig” show you how it should be done.