Confirmed acting credits and the characters he plays.
Ludwig — Henry Betts-Taylor
Hughes plays Henry Betts-Taylor, the son of Lucy and the missing DCI James Taylor, and the nephew of John Taylor. Big Talk Studios included Hughes in the programme’s original cast announcement, while the BBC’s programme material and episode listings place Henry at the centre of the family side of the mystery. Henry is not simply a child waiting for the adults to solve the problem: he recognises John’s strengths, understands his father’s interest in puzzles and repeatedly helps Lucy connect clues that have been left in domestic objects and coded messages.
Across the two series, Hughes works most closely with Anna Maxwell Martin as Lucy and David Mitchell as John and James. His performance keeps Henry observant without turning him into a miniature police officer. Henry can challenge the adults because he knows his family’s routines, but the programme also preserves the uncertainty of a son trying to understand why his father vanished. That combination makes the role important to the continuing story as well as to the comedy generated by John’s sudden place inside the household.
Death by Lightning — Jim Garfield Jr.
In Netflix’s limited historical drama Death by Lightning, Hughes plays Jim Garfield Jr., the son of President James Garfield and Lucretia Garfield. Netflix’s official cast guide identifies both the actor and character, and explains that the real James Rudolph Garfield later served as US Secretary of the Interior under President Theodore Roosevelt. The series dramatises James Garfield’s rise to the presidency and his assassination by Charles Guiteau, with Michael Shannon as Garfield and Betty Gilpin as Lucretia.
Jim belongs to the presidential family rather than the political contest at the drama’s centre. The role therefore places Hughes in scenes shaped by the private consequences of a public crisis. It is a different register from Ludwig: Henry drives parts of an invented contemporary mystery, whereas Jim is one member of a historical household whose future is already known. Netflix lists Hughes’s earlier work in Maternal, Ludwig and Malory Towers in the same official career note.
Malory Towers — Sebastian
Hughes appears as Sebastian in Malory Towers, the BBC and King Bert Productions adaptation inspired by Enid Blyton’s school stories. Established cast records list Sebastian in “The Quiz” and “The Dance”. The character is associated with the boys from Thackerton, whose visits widen the programme’s world beyond the pupils and staff at Malory Towers and create social stories around competitions and the school dance.
The episodes are ensemble pieces, so Sebastian’s function is specific rather than dominant. “The Quiz” uses an inter-school contest, while “The Dance” brings the schools together for a social event. Those appearances gave Hughes experience within a continuing children’s drama before his later regular role in Ludwig. Netflix’s official biography for Death by Lightning also names Malory Towers among his previous television work.
Maternal — Jakub
Hughes plays Jakub in Maternal, ITV’s drama about doctors returning to frontline medicine after maternity leave. Cast records identify Jakub in two episodes. He is a young patient being treated after serious illness, and his storyline sits within the professional and emotional pressures faced by the hospital team rather than operating as a separate continuing strand.
The part predates Ludwig and demonstrates a more naturalistic dramatic setting than either the stylised school world of Malory Towers or the puzzle structure of the BBC mystery. Netflix’s official Hughes biography names Maternal as one of his earlier series, while the programme’s industry cast record supplies the character name. The page does not infer personal or medical information about the actor from the character he plays.
From guest roles to a continuing ensemble
The sequence of verified credits shows a clear change in scale without requiring speculation about Hughes’s private life or training. Malory Towers and Maternal are contained appearances inside established ensembles. Ludwig gives him a continuing character whose decisions affect the programme’s long-running mystery, and Death by Lightning places him within a major international historical production.
What connects the roles is attentive ensemble work. Sebastian and Jakub enter stories led by other characters; Jim Garfield Jr. helps establish the human cost around a president; Henry has more room to initiate discoveries and question adult assumptions. That progression is the useful public record of Hughes’s career so far.