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".

A pregnant constable, Jo, acts heroically to rescue an infant during torrential rains and flooding. She has been promoted to Trainee Detective at the same time, and, after finding a dead murder victim in an elevator, she is keen to investigate. Too keen, perhaps, as she runs an unauthorized DNA check on the corpse, in haste.

Here's an interesting plot point: apparently, the DNA check, to a PRIVATE database (nothing turned up on the Police version) is ILLEGAL (???) in U. K.--hence, she faces dismissal and even jail time, if caught. Is that true? Maybe in England, but we see historical cases being solved in USA & Canada via those sources. So, the notion that the submission by an officer is a felony seems bizarre. Anyway, she gets a 'hit' and that drives the rest of the story.

I like these Euro 6-part series (3 or 4 is better), but even they can't resist the filler (including needless profanity) that better writers could skip. Nonetheless, good performances by Sophia Rundle (Jo), Lorraine Ashbourne (as her crusading Mom, Jonas Armstrong (her spouse & shifty fellow cop, Lee) and, one of my favs, PHIL GLENISTER, as a shifty contractor, who cuts corners to keep his head above water, wgilst citizens are sinking BELOW water.

The wrap-up is quite unique, with a few characters embroiled in borderline (or serious) violations. What to do? Leave it at that, or run a second season? I'm happy to believe that we can just tie it up THERE and draw our own conclusions --not that easy to predict!

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.

What the heck is with all the reviews absolutely slating this show ? Are people's attention spans or expectations just out of whack these days ?

I say give it a try, and switch off if it's not your cup of tea.

This was recommended to me by my Scottish neighbour. We both watch plenty of series and movies. OK maybe it's not super duper top notch drama or mystery, but it's entertainment. That's it, entertainment, it's not here to change your life or guide you to a higher plane.

Oh we live in Australia by the way, and so seeing the countryside, the towns and the 'people' is always a nice thing to us ex pats. It does get one homesick at times that's for sure.

In this series things certainly take a sharp upturn in episode 5, woooooh.

Somebody here stated that the bad guys are telegraphed, well OK there's only a handful of characters and well, someone there has to be involved, I mean that's how stories work right.

The way certain people are involved is what makes this turn out great, no spoilers intended, but it's not black and white.

I watched it over 2 days and it filled in some time, y'know like entertainment is made for.

OK, give it a go I say, and enjoy that cup of tea, cheers.

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.