Students spotted camera crews around Cambridge this week as Peep Show creator and Peterhouse alum David Mitchell began filming for his upcoming BBC show Ludwig. 

Student interest was piqued as cameras appeared around Queens’ and John’s colleges, as one reported that the “whole [Silver Street] bridge was blocked off”. 

The series will star the famed actor and comedian David Mitchell as John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor. When his identical twin James disappears, John is forced to assume his identity to investigate his whereabouts. 

The camera crews grabbed attention as a Camfess asked: “Anyone know what was being filmed at Queen’s today (09/01)??”.

One student told Varsity that he “saw guys with Petronas t-shirts there, which sponsor an F1 team” so theorised that the shooting was “for a car advert”. 

However, the Queens’ events calendar confirmed that Ludwig was the production using the college as its base. 

Filming was also spotted taking place on a square by John’s on Monday (08/01), although it was unclear if it was part of the same production. However, a Camfess confirmed that the cameras were for the show as it claimed they “saw David Mitchell from Peep Show at John’s yesterday”.

A student who cycled down Silver Street while they were filming a scene told Varsity: “The whole bridge was blocked off, camera equipment everywhere. I wanted to stop to check it out but they had signs telling passersby to keep out of the way. If I'd known it had been David Mitchell I might have been more keen to sneak around.” 

When she discovered Mitchell was there she commented: “Damn I can’t believe I didn’t see him”. 

Mitchell’s character in his new show is described as an unmarried recluse who “lives in quiet solitude, designing puzzles for a living, under the nom-de-plume of 'Ludwig’”.

While John confines himself to home sans mobile phone, computer or TV,  the twin he must now impersonate is a successful detective chief inspector who leads “Cambridge’s busy inner-city major crimes team”.

The synopsis queries: “John may be a master of all things cryptic, but can he crack the biggest puzzle of his life?’”

Although not a Queens’ alumni, the Would I Lie To You star was only a stone’s throw away from his own alma mater, Peterhouse.

During his time in Cambridge, Mitchell was part of the Footlights comedy troupe, where he met then-Robinson student Robert Webb. The two formed the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb and starred together in the acclaimed Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show. 

On his new show, David Mitchell said: “I'm delighted to be working in a genre of television that I have loved ever since, at the age of 10, I started watching the Miss Marple adaptations, starring Joan Hickson, with my parents. Sometimes the only thing that can bring the whole family together is murder.”

Queens’ College has also previously featured in the television series Kingdom starring Queens’ alumnus Stephen Fry and as the backdrop to the Bastille music video Things We Lost in the Fire.