Ludwig season 2 unveils first-look images as Line of Duty star joins David Mitchell for new episodes

After a year and a half of waiting, we finally have our first look at the second season of hit David Mitchell series Ludwig, with a set of images having been unveiled - and Radio Times has got an exclusive sneak peek.

The images show the returns of Mitchell as John 'Ludwig' Taylor and Anna Maxwell Martin as his sister-in-law Lucy, as well as Dipo Ola as DCI Russell Carter, Dylan Hughes as Henry Betts-Taylor, Dorothy Atkinson as DCS Carol Shaw, Ralph Ineson as Chief Constable Ziegler

Karl Pilkington will also return to the cast as DI Matt Neville, although he hasn't yet been seen in the images.

Meanwhile, also seen in the images are new additions to the cast including Line of Duty's Mark Bonnar as newspaper editor Gareth Fisher, Fleabag's Sian Clifford as local MP Joanne Kemper, Black Mirror's Ben Ashenden as DC Ethan Cole and After the Flood's Rumi Sutton as DC Caitlin Sullivan.

The synopsis for season 2, which has once again been written by show creator Mark Brotherhood, says: "Picking up from the end of series one, master puzzle-setter John 'Ludwig' Taylor (Mitchell) is now a Crime Scene Consultant, working alongside DCI Russell Carter (Ola), on 'impossible' crimes for the Cambridge Police Authority.

"No longer having to masquerade as his brother, he’s openly more 'Ludwig' than ever - brilliant at solving puzzles but hopeless at everything else. But John’s identical twin brother, James, is still missing, and now that he’s an official employee of the station, John is forbidden from using any police resources to look for his brother or uncover exactly what he was investigating.

"Of course, John won’t stop and neither will Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin), John’s sister-in-law and wife of his missing brother James - a puzzle needs solving and a husband and father needs bringing home. One masquerade may have ended, but a new one has just begun."

Earlier this year, Mitchell opened up about how his character's official role on the police team will shake things up in the new episodes.

He told Radio Times: "When you watch the second series, you realise there's still quite a lot of obfuscation involved in his role, because not everyone in the police force is entirely on side with his appointment.

"And of course, he's still got to cover up the fact that for a long time he was solving cases while impersonating a police officer. And if that ever gets out, well, five murderers will walk free, and he won't walk free himself."

There are three major stars from Ludwig season 1 who won't be returning for this new run, with DS Alice Finch star Izuka Hoyle and DC Simon Evans star Gerran Howell both having left the series.

Howell, who was unable to return due to his ongoing role in US series The Pitt, said that he hopes "the door is still open" for a potential return, "because I really love that show".

Meanwhile, Holly Pinder star Sophie Willan also won't be back, after her character bit the dust at the end of the first season.

Ludwig season 2 will air later this year on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Season 1 is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.

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