After the Flood series 2 picks up a full year after that jaw-dropping series 1 finale – and if you’re scratching your head trying to remember exactly how it all ended, you’re definitely not alone.
The new series finds PC Joanna Marshall dealing with the fallout from everything she uncovered. She’s separated from her husband Pat after learning he’d been in Sergeant Phil Mackie’s pocket for years, taking bribes and covering things up. Now Pat wants to put things right by helping bring Mackie down – even if it lands him behind bars.
Back in February 2024, After the Flood series 1 left viewers absolutely furious thanks to a huge cliffhanger. In the closing scenes, Jo confronted DS Phil Mackie (Nicholas Gleaves) in hospital, moments after giving birth to her daughter, Eve.
By then, we knew Mackie – Jo’s surrogate father figure since the death of her real dad – was corrupt to the core, with blood very much on his hands. So before series 2 gets underway, here’s a full recap of what went down in After the Flood series 1…
***Warning: spoilers from the ending of After the Flood series 1 ahead***
What happened in After the Flood series 1?
After the Flood series 1 centred on heavily pregnant PC Joanna Marshall (played by Sophie Rundle) as she investigated a suspicious death following a devastating storm. A man’s body was discovered trapped in a lift in an underground car park after catastrophic flooding – and that man turned out to be Daniel Eden.
Jo simply couldn’t let the case go. But as she dug deeper, it became clear she wasn’t just chasing a killer. The truth was far worse: the murderer was one of her own. Sergeant Phil Mackie – her boss, mentor and a father figure after the death of her dad, Brendan Marshall – was responsible.
Mackie wasn’t just guilty of murder. He’d been corrupt for years, pocketing illegal payments and pulling strings. Even more devastating for Jo, her husband Pat had been dragged into it too.
By the end of series 1, Mackie had successfully manipulated both Jo and Pat into silence. And as series 2 begins, a year later, he’s still holding all the power. The question now is how long that can last.
Who killed Daniel Eden?
Daniel Eden was killed by Sergeant Phil Mackie – but he wasn’t acting alone. Several other officers and witnesses were present on the night Daniel died.
Daniel had met Mackie and others to discuss a dodgy insurance scam involving Jack Radcliffe’s supposedly “stolen” farm equipment. Daniel and Lee Ellison were overseeing the shipment, while Mackie and Pat ensured there’d be no police interference. Keith – Pat’s brother-in-law – was also involved through his import-export business, although he wasn’t at the meeting. Mackie later stitched him up for the scam, and Keith ends up back on the scene in series 2 after being released from prison.
When tensions flared during the meeting, Mackie lost his temper and struck Daniel with a plank of wood, killing him. Daniel had made offensive remarks about Mackie’s wife Sarah – a local politician – and her affair with property developer Jack Radcliffe.
Sarah, Jack and Pat were all present when Daniel was killed. Some agreed to cover it up willingly, others were forced into silence. Also there was Lee Ellison (Jonas Armstrong), whose involvement would ultimately help Jo uncover the truth.
Who was Lee Ellison? What happened to him?
Lee Ellison had grown up in foster care with Mackie and his wife, and felt a deep sense of loyalty to him. Mackie exploited that, turning Lee into his enforcer.
Mackie used Lee to do his dirty work – including ordering him to kill. Worse still, Mackie planned to pin everything on him.
Lee died in a car crash in the final moments of series 1, with Jo in the vehicle. She narrowly survived, giving birth to baby Eve in the wreckage. Before his death, Lee confessed the truth about Daniel Eden – and about the murder of Chris Robinson.
Still recovering from childbirth, Jo confronted Mackie in hospital and accused him outright: “You’re bent. You’re corrupt.”
Mackie’s response was chilling: “If you break ranks and report anything to anyone, you’ll be pressing the self-destruction button.”
After the Flood series 1 recap: What did Jo’s husband Pat do wrong?
Pat revealed he’d been “on the take” for years. Early in his career, he investigated a case involving a boy from a wealthy family. Mackie persuaded him to let it slide – and Pat later received a payoff. As he told Jo, refusing “was not an option”.
From that point on, Pat continued to accept money to look the other way. By the time series 1 ended, he had more than £20,000 stashed away.
Meanwhile, Jo was devastated to learn her father Bren hadn’t been squeaky clean either. He’d bent the rules, claiming he did it to “nail the ones who needed taking down”. Even so, it still counted as corruption.
In series 2, Jo starts digging into her dad’s past involvement with Mackie’s corruption – but she keeps it from her mum Molly, now a local councillor.
Jo is determined to protect her mum from the full truth about both Mackie and Bren.
After the Flood series 1 recap: Who was Chris Robinson?
After Daniel Eden was killed, Mackie and the others cleaned up the crime scene and hid his body in the flooded car park, hoping the storm would take the blame.
Later, car park manager Chris Robinson was murdered to silence him. Mackie didn’t carry out the killing himself – he ordered Lee Ellison to do it and stage it as a suicide.
Chris had recently been fired by Jack Radcliffe, making the apparent suicide look convincing.
Why hasn’t Jo reported Mackie?
Mackie had no intention of owning up in series 1. Instead, he threatened Jo – then still a trainee detective – and made it clear he’d destroy her life if she spoke out.
Jo knew that reporting Mackie would also implicate Pat, dragging the father of her child down with him.
As series 2 opens, Jo and Pat are separated but secretly working together to gather evidence against Mackie. Publicly, there’s an uneasy truce. Mackie remains at the centre of Waterside police station, newly separated from his wife Sarah and increasingly desperate to protect himself.
What Mackie doesn’t realise is that Jo and Pat are quietly closing in on him. Pat, wracked with guilt, wants Mackie to finally pay for what he’s done.
Nicholas Gleaves has teased what’s ahead, saying: “In series 2, there’s ongoing difficulty for Mackie in covering up what happened in series one, and a whole different kind of crime starts to emerge. Very deep and dark corruption begins to surface, and we’ll see the extent of Mackie’s involvement.”
What needs to happen in After the Flood series 2?
Executive producer Nicola Shindler explains: “Series 2 starts a year after the end of series 1. We are with Jo and Pat, who are now separated. And they are looking at investigating Mackie and working out how to bring Mackie down at the same time as saving themselves.”
Jo may understand how Mackie manipulated Pat, but forgiving years of lies is another matter. Still, the pair make a formidable team. Behind the scenes, they’re building a case against Mackie while pretending everything is normal at work.
Desperate to make amends – and hoping he hasn’t lost Jo forever – Pat trawls through Mackie’s old cases, searching for anything that proves his corruption. He hates how weak he was, and he’s willing to sacrifice everything to see Mackie brought to justice.
Meanwhile, Jo is investigating a new murder on the Moors – a case that once again brings her into conflict with powerful figures in the town. And, inevitably, Mackie is right at the centre of it.
Series 2 promises high stakes, buried secrets and the long-awaited showdown viewers have been waiting for. Will Jo and Pat finally bring Phil Mackie down – and could there still be a future for them too?
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