David Mitchell … well, look. Nobody is ever going to accuse him of being “an actor with range”, are they? Perhaps this is my own fault, for rewatching his turn as Mark in Peep Show so many times I can recite deep quotes of it in my sleep (“the first friend I’ve made since Nick Bickford in 1996”). Perhaps it is also a little bit his fault for playing more or less the same character in Back, Greed, Upstart Crow and, if you think about it, every single episode of Would I Lie to You?. But that’s what David Mitchell is world-beatingly good at: blurting out “Oh, God, no!” when three minor inconveniences stack up in the same 30 minutes; apologising meekly for losing his temper but not really meaning it at all; saying “Sorry, but ah – ” and turning around Columbo-style on the spot to correct someone; sweating when forced to talk to another person.
This sounds like criticism, but it isn’t: I don’t mind actors playing more or less the same character when those characters are good and the scenario suits them. That’s exactly what’s happened here with Ludwig (25 September, 9pm, BBC One), which is the absolute perfect platform for David Mitchell to David Mitchell on top of.
