After the Flood (TV series)

Lore & Background

After the Flood was created by Mick Ford and directed by Azhur Saleem. The series is produced by Quay Street Productions for ITV and ITVX. Executive producers Nicola Shindler and Richard Fee stated their interest in producing the series after Ford presented the outline to them. The first series commenced airing on 10 January 2024. As of the current date, no second series has been commissioned or announced; any references to future series or cancellation are speculative and not part of the established canon.

Reader's Guide

After the Flood is notable as a British crime thriller that integrates environmental themes, specifically global warming, into its narrative. The series received mixed to positive reviews, with Lucy Mangan of The Guardian awarding the first episode four stars out of five, praising the quality of the characters and the weaving in of global warming, while Nick Hilton in The Independent awarded the series three out of five stars. The show's cancellation after two series marks a relatively short run, but it remains a reference point for ITV's crime drama output in the mid-2020s. Its significance lies in its use of a natural disaster as a catalyst for a murder investigation, and its casting of Sophie Rundle as the lead investigator.

Did You Know?

• Filming for series 1 began in March 2023 in Glossop and New Mills, Derbyshire.
• Sophie Rundle was cast as lead character PC Joanna Marshall on 16 February 2023.
• As of the current date, no second series has been commissioned or announced; any references to future series or cancellation are speculative and not part of the established canon.
• The show has only aired its first series (2024); no cancellation has been announced.

Premise & Narrative

After the Flood is a British crime mystery thriller that places its central investigation against the backdrop of a natural disaster. Created by Mick Ford and helmed by director Azhur Saleem, the series follows PC Joanna Marshall, a police officer tasked with uncovering the truth behind the death of an unidentified man. The body is discovered in an underground car park following a devastating flash flood that has struck a small English town, blending the procedural elements of a murder investigation with the chaos and aftermath of extreme weather. The first series premiered on 10 January 2024, establishing the show's tone of grounded, character-driven mystery. When a second series was greenlit, it took a different distribution approach: all episodes were released simultaneously on the streaming platform ITVX, commencing on 18 January 2026. This model allowed audiences to binge the full run at once rather than waiting week by week, a shift that underscored the show's growing presence on the streaming side of ITV's output.

Cast & Character Ensemble

Sophie Rundle anchors the series as PC Joanna Marshall (later promoted to DC), the determined officer at the heart of both investigations. She is joined by a strong supporting ensemble in the first series, including Philip Glenister as Jack Radcliffe, Lorraine Ashbourne as Molly Marshall, Nicholas Gleaves as DS Phil Mackie, Jacqueline Boatswain as Sarah Mackie, Jonas Armstrong as Lee Ellison, Anita Adam Gabay as Tasha Eden, Daniel Betts as DCI Roy, George Bukhari as Keith, Faye McKeever as Kelly, Matt Stokoe as Pat Holman, Tripti Tripuraneni as Deepa Das, Arthur McBain as Daniel Eden, Amy Forrest as Emma, Jeanette Percival as Amy, and Gary Hanks as PC Gibson. The second series significantly expanded the roster, introducing a wave of new characters: Nathalie Armin as Layal Ellis, Alun Armstrong as Alan Benson, Steph de Whalley as Harriet Benson, Anil Desai as DCI Ravi Balsara, Jill Halfpenny as DS Sam Bradley, Matthew McNulty as Xav Palmer, Tony Marshall as Fraser Tempest, Roger Morlidge as Geoff Dixon, Oliver Nelson as Declan Rower, Jenny Platt as Donna Rower, Ian Puleston-Davies as Tony Rower, and Jason Walsh as Todd Drake. This broadened cast suggests the narrative widens its scope considerably in its second outing.

Production & Development

The series was produced by Quay Street Productions for the dual output of ITV and its streaming service ITVX. The project originated when creator Mick Ford presented his outline to executive producers Nicola Shindler and Richard Fee, who expressed their interest in developing it into a full series. Casting news broke on 16 February 2023, confirming Sophie Rundle in the lead role alongside Philip Glenister, Lorraine Ashbourne, and Nicholas Gleaves. Principal photography for the first series kicked off in March 2023, with the production team shooting on location in Glossop and New Mills, both situated in Derbyshire. The choice of a real, working English town as the setting lent the flood-affected backdrop an authenticity that a studio set could not replicate. Following the first series' January 2024 broadcast, ITV confirmed on 15 November 2024 that a second series had been commissioned, keeping the production pipeline active and giving the creative team time to develop the next chapter of Joanna Marshall's story before the 2026 release.

Reception & Legacy

Critical response to the first series was broadly positive. Lucy Mangan of The Guardian awarded the opening episode four stars out of five, singling out the strength of the character writing and the show's thoughtful integration of global warming as a narrative thread. Nick Hilton, writing for The Independent, gave the series three out of five stars, a more measured but still favourable assessment. The show's run ultimately spanned two series. After the second series aired in January 2026, ITV made the decision not to continue the programme further. On 13 August 2026, the network officially announced that After the Flood would not return for a third series, bringing the story of PC Joanna Marshall to a close. The decision to release the entire second series simultaneously on ITVX rather than in weekly instalments marked a notable shift in how the show reached its audience, and the two-series lifespan, while brief, gave the production a defined arc from its Derbyshire flood investigation to its expanded second-chapter cast and storyline.

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