After the Flood

I must admit I didn't have very high hopes for this latest 6-part cop-drama from ITV but I found the longer it went the better it got. It starts with a massive flood in a fictitious Yorkshire town. Very pregnant policewoman Joanna Marshall, played by Sarah Rundle, is keen to become a detective, but meanwhile has quite the day while out in unform, first of all helping to save a young baby who's fallen into the fast-flowing floodwater, although she's greatly helped in this by a mystery man who unflinchingly dives headlong into the torrent. She then later stumbles upon a dead man in a car-park lift who it soon becomes obvious wasn't a victim of the flood but was murdered beforehand and placed there to make it look like he was.

Jo's dad was in CID and she's now married to Pat, already a qualified detective so detection is in her blood and so it proves as she Miss Marples her way onto the trail of the dead man which soon spirals outwards to take in two faked suicides, political and police corruption, smuggling, environmental abuse and much more besides.

To get to the bottom of all this she's thrown together with the attitudinal younger sister of the dead man, who rushes over from France to uncover the truth about her brother's death, while also having to contend with the in-laws from hell who her husband takes into their marital home after the flood makes them temporarily homeless.

I was impressed by the recreation of the flood itself in the neighbourhood and especially the baby-rescue at the beginning, but my interest was sustained afterwards in an extensively plotted narrative with many twists and turns along the way leading to an enigmatically engineered ending.

Rundle trundles (sorry, couldn't resist it) her way effectively through the morass of red herrings strewn her way and does a good job of carrying the story along as the lead. She gets excellent support from good, solid actors like Philip Glenister, Lorraine Ashbourne, Nicholas Gleaves and Jonas Armstrong who I fondly remember as an earlier incarnation of Robin Hood some years ago.

With a healthy dose of earthy humour thrown in for good measure and a surprising twist-reveal in the climactic episode, this was an above-average police procedural and in my book was certainly better than the much-hyped recent series of "Happy Valley".

I thought the first episode was very promising as the flood scenes were very realistic indicating it might be a drama series that had cost a lot to make and so would be very good. I also like Philip Glenister and Lorraine Ashworth as actors. The first episode and these two actors account for my 4 star rating. Thereafter the series becomes a typical ITV drama, promising start to reel viewers in leading to a damp squib of an ending. It's also quite obvious that many police dramas are written these days with a female officer/detective showing her male colleagues up to be incompetent. That formula is wearing a bit thin. I can't comment too much on the plot (other than as many holes as a culender.) without giving away spoilers. Overall watchable but do not expect Happy Valley.

After helping save a baby from dangerous flood waters, Jo finds the dead body of a man in a lift, unable to discover his identity, she illegally puts his DNA into an online search facility, the man's sister arrives in The UK wanting answers.

I'm really surprised by the negative reviews, and had I quit at episode one, I may have also given up, but I decided to stick with it, and I'm glad it did, as it develops, it gets better and better, it angles along, but the last couple of episodes are very good.

Very much a suspense thriller, Whodunnit, it didn't play out as I was expecting, from the advertising, it was made to look as if the big flood would be the climax, it's more the fallout, very much after the flood.

It's a clever storyline, at a time where flooding in The UK has become a real issue, you can only imagine how bad it must be to get caught up in one, visually that first episode looked great, the scenes of a flooded village looked terrific.

No issues with the acting, Sophie Rundle, Philip Glenister and Matt Stokoe are all excellent, I thought Lorraine Ashbourne really stood out.

Don't be too quick to believe the low reviews, it's well worth watching.

7/10.

I wonder whether some of the negative reviews are from viewers who did not stick with it long enough. I did and found, after a slow start, it got me hooked. Excellent acting and production. Plenty of twists in the tale. Left you looking forward to finding out how everybody survived the ending. Special mention to Sophie Rundle who held it all together.

I would guess it suffered from reviewers expecting it to be as good as Happy Valley. Touted as being produced by the same people fed into this expectation. Best to see it as a fine drama in its own right. I look forward to the next series. Don't be put off..

Strange one . The police process , stereotyping of certain characters and the handling of or response to the flooding in ep 1 werent the best and almost suggest it wouldn't be worth watching, although some parts were spot on which kept the attention . A real mix .

As it develops those police glitches remain which does detract , same shift always at work which probably explains why they're so wooden , but the story certainly develops .

The Jo character is a little implausible , doing her own thing and the habit of giving a synopsis to anyone who will listen just in case you're not following becomes a bit irritating but maybe useful for some .

However the story overall is a great one with a few twists as it unravels in front of you . I had no idea who the meanest bad guy was going to turn out to be and he is sinister . (No spoilers )

Worth watching.