It’s been a longstanding tradition for American TV to remake British series for U.S. viewers. In fact, such classic sitcoms as “All in the Family,” “Sanford and Son” and “The Office” were all based on British series.
Most recently, Fox has scored a big hit with “Best Medicine,” a U.S. remake of beloved U.K. series “Doc Martin,” and ABC has recently announced plans to remake a British whodunit that set viewership records in the U.K. when it returned for a second season.
Remaking ‘Ludwig’
Variety is reporting that ABC has ordered a pilot titled “Rabbit,” based on British series “Ludwig.”
ABC’s first pilot order of 2026, “Rabbit” is written by Megan Ganz and Humphrey Ker, who will also serve as executive producers. Mark Brotherhood, who created the original series, will also be an exec producer.
“After his homicide detective twin brother goes missing, Mark, a reclusive puzzle writer known as ‘Rabbit,’ is pulled from his solitary life and thrust into the Cambridge, MA police department, where he poses as his brother to investigate his mysterious disappearance,” notes the “Rabbit” logline.
“But soon, Mark discovers that his uncanny ability to solve impossible puzzles makes him an unlikely crime-solving sensation,” the logline adds.
“Ludwig” originally debuted on BBC One in 2024, with its second season debuting earlier this year. A third season is currently in the works, in addition to a Christmas special set to premiere in the U.K. in December.
A Massive Brit Hit
When “Ludwig” returned with Season 2 in September, the show set viewership records in the U.K.
As Deadline reported at the time, the first episode of the new season garnered 9.1 million viewers to become the U.K.’s most-watched scripted debut of the year.
“’Ludwig’ is a gloriously eccentric detective at the heart of a show that has never played by the usual rules, so to see more than nine million people embrace him is genuinely thrilling,” said Kenton Allen of Big Talk, which produces the series. “Mark Brotherhood has created that rare thing: a clever, funny, warm-hearted show that audiences seem to have made part of their lives.”
Cozy Crime
“Ludwig” fits neatly within the “cozy mystery” genre, in which the focus is the solving of the crime, not the grisly homicide at the center of it.
“If murder had happened in your life to someone that was close to you, I don’t think you’d enjoy Agatha Christie quite so much,” “Ludwig” star David Mitchell told BBC, explaining why that genre has become so popular with viewers, particularly on British television.
“It’s an odd convention in entertainment but one I’m very fond of, the idea that you can have so much mainstream, accessible, light television about murder,” he continued. “It’s a testament, I always think, to the fact there aren’t that many murders in Britain.”
According to Mitchell, there’s also an escapist aspect to the show that viewers have latched onto.
“I think these are quite frightening times,” he said. “If you look at the great Hollywood films of the 1930s, which was another very frightening time, it’s all about lightness and escape … Certainly my appetite for something like true crime is lower now, I find the world a bit more worrying.”
Both seasons of “Ludwig” are available to stream via BritBox.
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ABC Orders New Series ‘Rabbit’ Based On Hit British Crime Comedy