After The Flood - Season 1

After the rain comes sunshine, but in After The Flood a corpse also appears. Heavily pregnant and about to go on maternity leave, Joanna (Sophie Rundle) must once again pull out all the stops. When severe flooding strikes, she and her fellow police officers take on the difficult task of inspecting the area. Along with an unknown man, she manages to rescue a baby from a raging current. However, Joanna also finds a deceased man in an elevator. When it turns out he wasn't killed by the water, a murder investigation begins, and Joanna is eager to be a part of it. She pulls out all the stops, whether she's allowed to or not.

Her husband, Pat (Matt Stokoe), already works for the detective department and is one of the people who will be leading the investigation. He is agitated by Joanna's unpredictable behavior. He blames her being heavily pregnant and the fact that Joanna is doing everything that's officially prohibited in a police investigation. Sergeant Mackie (Nicholas Gleaves), Joanna's boss, is actually motivating her to cooperate with the investigation. Joanna was supposed to be promoted to the detective department after her maternity leave anyway. However, it seems a desk job has been created for Joanna.

Good does not always triumph over evil.

As the investigation uncovers more information about the deceased, it becomes clear that there's more to it. Joanna's unconventional approach leads her to learn more, but she also finds herself in increasingly difficult situations. Each discovery makes her more determined to uncover the truth. She doesn't really care anymore that she's abandoning all the police's investigative methods to do so. She's become too deeply entrenched in the investigation and the people it has implicated to let go.

After the Flood is a master at blending personal stories with a police investigation. Joanna's mother, Molly (Lorraine Ashbourne), is just as determined as her daughter and uncovers a possible cause of the flooding. She champions the community and fights injustice. So Joanna's story is no stranger to this. Molly discovers that the allocation and construction of new homes in the hills has likely been rigged.



When the murder appears to have connections to the flood investigation, everything accelerates. This further strains Joanna and Pat's relationship, which was already strained by the time Pat's sister and her family were housed in Joanna's home. Molly then proves to be a good place for Joanna to rest.

After the Flood is a typical and solid British crime series. The focus is on who did it and the murder investigation to find out. Furthermore, time and space are given to the personal lives of the main characters. Because these lives are so intertwined with the murder case, this is a definite added value. It creates a deeper understanding of the characters and the choices made.

After The Flood is a typical and solid British crime series.

The visuals look fantastic. The setting (Yorkshire) where the filming takes place contributes greatly to the series' atmosphere. If you enjoy British television series, you'll encounter plenty of well-known actors again. The quality is simply excellent.

A downside is that the story progresses quite predictably. That one thing connects to another is practically standard in a crime series these days. On the other hand, the unexpected ending makes for a good plot for a sequel. Good doesn't always triumph over evil, although it certainly seemed that way back then. To understand this, you have to watch After the Flood.