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Ben Ashenden has revealed he 'embarrassed himself' as he recalled his very first meeting with Ludwig co-star David Mitchell 16 years ago.
The actor, 36, joined the cast of the BBC detective-comedy's second series in 2025, appearing alongside David, 52, in his lead role as puzzle-designer John 'Ludwig' Taylor.
And while he seamlessly interacts with the Peep Show legend on screen in the latest series which debuted last week, Ben recently admitted that it hasn't always been the case.
Taking to social media, Ben shared a mirror selfie of himself, alongside the words: '16 years ago, I spotted David Fuc**ing Mitchell in public!! So I got brave and told him I'd love to do comedy one day just like him and thank you so much for Peep Show and Hennimore and the rude waiter sketch ok bye love u.
'I tweeted about it later to my 9 followers. Saying I'd fanboyed so hard I'd embarrased myself.'[sic]
In the following slide, Ben remarked: 'He replied!' as he shared a screen grab of David's tweet which read: 'You didn't embarrass yourself, though you did misspell the word embarrassed. Nice to meet you, best of luck with the comedy.'
Ben Ashenden [second right] has revealed he 'embarrassed himself' as he recalled his very first meeting with Ludwig co-star David Mitchell [second left] 16 years ago
The actor, 36, joined the cast of the BBC detective-comedy's second series in 2025, appearing alongside David, 52, in his lead role as puzzle-designer John 'Ludwig' Taylor.
Ben then went on to upload a snap of himself and David in the comedy show Ludwig, captioning the image: '16 years later. Still embarrassing myself.'
Ben has appeared in several TV series over the years including Black Mirror, Wicker and Hijack, while he also played the part of Tyler in movie Jurassic World: Dominion alongside Chris Pratt.
His writing credits include Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Deep Cover, Here We Go and upcoming comedy series Bill's Included starring Rob Brydon.
Meanwhile, the second series of his BBC show Ludwig, premiered this month and received rave reviews from viewers.
David reprised his role as the titular character, an introverted and reclusive puzzle setter in the murder mystery series.
Anna Maxwell Martin also returned to her role as the wife of John's missing brother James, Lucy Betts-Taylor.
David told The Radio Times at a recent Q&A that he's always enjoyed murder mysteries.
He said: 'Some of my happiest viewing memories are as a child watching Miss Marple with Joan Hickson - I mean, she was in it, she wasn't in the room – and Inspector Morse, and that sort of thing. I love that kind of programme.'
Taking to social media, Ben shared a mirror selfie of himself, alongside the words: '16 years ago, I spotted David Fuc**ing Mitchell in public!!
In the following slide, Ben remarked: 'He replied!' as he shared a screen grab of David's tweet
Ben then went on to upload a snap of himself and David in the comedy show Ludwig, captioning the image: '16 years later. Still embarrassing myself'
He added that he put a comic spin on his tale to add some levity after revealing he didn't like watching things that were too gritty.
He said: 'I don't love watching things that are horrific and gritty and sort of remind you of the frailty of the human life.'
He explained that he achieved this by emulating Agatha Christie and that his latest show is littered with references to her stories.
David revealed that he used one of the writer's greatest tricks.
In Ludwig, the actor explained that the person that's murdered is never seen and as a result the audience isn't invested in them which allows the story to be more light-hearted.
He added that all Agatha Christie stories are puzzles and to honour the queen of the murder mystery David ensured that Ludwig used her winning formula.
David said: 'So you get the overarching narrative, but you also get the reward of a puzzle, a murder each week. So I thought it was a great idea.'
English (US) ·