Steve Newall: Flicks.co.nz editor on the new comedy-mystery series Ludwig

TV fans looking for a mystery drama with a few laughs are in luck - as a new series out of the UK is set to premiere on TVNZ.

Ludwig stars David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin as an unlikely duo investigating a mysterious disappearance.

Flicks.co.nz editor Steve Newall explains if this series is worth checking out this evening.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talk SEDB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
And it is time to talk entertainment now and I'm
joined by Steve Newill, editor at flick stot co dot
and Z.

Speaker 3 (00:17):
Good morning, Good morning are you.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
I was just talking to Scott Cam Do you ever
watch the Block? Are you into the Renault shows?

Speaker 3 (00:23):
I'm okay, I'll tell you what.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
No, all right, No, that's fine. I just thought if
you want a bit of if you want a bit
of human drama, season twenty is definitely worth if you
want to jump on board, No, just go straight to
season twenty. Actually it's as often the case, you know.
In the air break after talking to Scott, he kind
of mentioned a few other things about the season, and
in an interview, I said, oh, what about if I

(00:48):
guessed what happens this season? And then we decided not
to because I didn't want to didn't want to blow anything.
But quite frankly, I could not have guessed what he
told me. It's yeah, that it or the drama. Anyway,
let's move on. You want to talk about a new
comedy mystery series he's called Ludwig.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
Yes, correct, This kicks off on t vn Z tonight
from eight thirty pm. They've got the first six episodes
of season one. This is a comedy mystery show starring
David Mitchell, who is probably best known for Peep Show
great at playing a kind of bumbling bricks, a man
who gets in his own way and is maybe a

(01:29):
little bit introverted at the same time, And here he
plays a puzzle setter, a guy who's made his career
under with the pen name Ludwig, doing basically like crossword
puzzles and logic puzzles. But when his twin brother disappears,
he's called upon by the family to pose as him
as a cop and get to the bottom of his disappearance.

(01:51):
So it brings this kind of bookish kind of guy
in contact with all these cases. It turns it he's
actually quite good at solving murders and whatnot.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
What are you know?

Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yeah, yeah, if you want, this is a candidate for
one of the most enjoyable shows of the year.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Cool.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
I have a really good time with this. It's pretty gentle,
you know, it's you could maybe say it's David Mitchell
Meet's Midsummer Murders, perhaps, but it's just got a nice
homely vibe to it. And you know, isn't shut on
good performances and storytelling too.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Love the old lover Murder Mystery. Do you know what,
when I was much, much, much younger, on a Sunday,
I was a little hungover. I used to do those
they used to have the whole weekends they used to
have Murder Mystery marathons.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
Public Service.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
I sit there and just watched the same show Decisions.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
Than the night before Public Service.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
You're looking at me slightly slightly disappointed.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
This I've all got our coping strategy.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
He you just mentioned. TVNZ has dropped the first six
episodes of the series, which is what they did with
the Day of the Jackal as well. This is a
bit of a new approach from them because either a
lot of the time it's either it comes once a week,
doesn't it.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
I guess it's the constant competition that they have with
the traditional streamers, right, but you know, we kind of
want to be able to just jump.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
Right in so we're allowed to harsh Yeah, okay, we're
half bening. Cliff Curtis has been honored.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
Yeah, this is pretty cool. Cliff, maybe needing a day
in front of those films you mentioned a minute ago.
He has won the It's a Bit of an Acronym Award,
the f IAPF Award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards
last night, held in Australia. With over thirty years of experience,

(03:43):
become a household name in New Zealand and this award
was to recognize his outstanding achievement and film in the
Asia Pacific region. Stuff we already know about Cliff. He rules,
but good to see him. Takes myself away home.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
Last time I saw him I was in the TV
show Chaos, which came out on Netflix recently with Jeff Goldblum.
Did you manage to catch that?

Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yeah? I didn't do the Chaos actually.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
No, Look I think it was a bit of a
hit and miss I felt like they were trying to, yeah,
take the old mythology and turn it into something dark
and interesting. Well yeah, but he does no, no, no,
his performance is really faberitous.

Speaker 3 (04:21):
Send it though.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
There's a lot of fun. Thank you very much, Steve.
We will catch you next week. Are you a Christmas
movie kind of guy?

Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (04:30):
No, nou of the Christmas No, that's okay. Have a
little think I'm going to give you a few weeks,
a few weeks notice, then if you could just pull
a couple of recommendations out of your hats so people
don't have to watch Love actually for the twenty fifth time.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
Yeah, there we go.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
Okay, thank you very much, appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.