Sophie Rundle is familiar from her leading roles in some of the best British television series. From the smash hit thriller Bodyguard to the underrated drama The Nest to the critically acclaimed Gentleman Jack, she’s been a huge part of some compelling stories. Now Sophie is front and center in the BritBox original After the Flood, which is one-part crime series and one-part disaster drama.
The program orbits around Police Constable Joanna “Jo” Marshall, who’s searching for the truth about a suspicious death in the wake of a flood that tore through her town. “I loved who she was,” Sophie told Fangirlish about her character. “I think it’s such a great opening sequence [of the show]—there’s the flood, the water’s getting higher, and then there’s the baby in the car seat. You know what’s going to happen to the baby, and it goes into the water. I love that Jo just jumps in, and she doesn’t think about it; she just gets involved.
“Then you discover that she’s pregnant. And you think okay, that’s who this woman is; it says so much [about her]… Then to see the choices she makes throughout [After the Flood] that aren’t always brilliant, I think that’s really interesting, as well. When you go oh, I don’t know if I agree with what my character is doing there, so how do I square it? It was too compelling to walk away from.”
Yet one of the ways After the Flood differentiates itself in a crowded landscape is that it’s not solely centered on Jo as the one hero who can solve the mystery and save the day. Equal screen time is given to the community around her, and some characters are there to help her, while others aren’t on board with her newfound mission. “The kind of police officer that Jo is, she’s intrinsic to the community,” said Sophie. “She grew up there. She’s known half these people since she was a kid. She knows the streets better than anyone. When she is now trying to become a detective and step outside of that, that’s where some of the conflict is. People don’t want her to step outside of that. They want to shoehorn Jo into this box that they imagine her fitting into.
“[Creator] Mick [Ford]’s writing is so good at drawing this really realistic, relatable community of people. Jo’s husband, her neighbors, her in-laws, they all kind of unfold from each other… [It was] amazing to have an amazing cast of actors, who were so suited to their roles, and brought so much to it to make it really real and believable.”
The titular disaster then comes in and shakes up the entire town, and while After the Flood does layer in a discussion about the effects of it and the climate change that led to it, it’s not as issue-driven as other British TV productions like Burn Up. The flood simply provides a more intense backdrop to the show’s central mystery. “You see how this is going to impact people’s lives,” Sophie explained. “How it’s completely destroying people’s homes and their communities. I think that’s what Jo is focused on; she’s shocked and horrified by it. But then she’s completely distracted by the murder that is revealed as a consequence of that.”
Sophie’s performance in After the Flood allows audiences to see her in a different kind of role than ever before. After delivering memorable work in The Nest, Bodyguard and Gentleman Jack collaborating with the likes of Martin Compston, Richard Madden and Suranne Jones, this show lets her delve into far more on-screen action and isolates Jo in so many ways as a would-be hero. Sophie told Fangirlish that she appreciates those successes even as she flexes new acting muscles on the BritBox drama.
“I’ve been so lucky to be part of these shows that have gone on to be more successful than I think people anticipated they would be. And I think a big part of that is that really rare alchemy that just kind of happens,” she reflected. “You can have all the right puzzle pieces, and maybe it doesn’t work. And then sometimes you can be on [a TV series] and people just respond to it. So you have to just do your best and and hope that the audience likes what you liked in the script when you read it.”
After the Flood’s first two episodes are now streaming on BritBox.
