For Fiona McAllister, After the Flood also marks a significant personal milestone. Having recently stepped into the role of head of development at Quay Street Productions<\/a>, she has just wrapped her first producing gig on After the Flood\u2019s second series.<\/p>\n Reflecting on her journey into television, McAllister recalls being a 21-year-old with no contacts in the industry and a love of shows like Queer as Folk, never imagining she might one day be working under Nicola Shindler, then founder of RED Productions and the producer behind one of her favourite shows.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember going to see her do a talk at Screen Yorkshire. I was just working out what I was going to do with my life. I had no contacts in TV, I didn\u2019t think TV was something I could do. Listening to her speech made me think: \u2018maybe I can,\u2019\u201d Fiona McAllister tells Prolific North.<\/p>\n A decade on, McAllister had built experience behind the scenes on scripts for major soaps including Emmerdale and Coronation Street, as well as Doctor Who during Jodie Whittaker\u2019s first two series.<\/p>\n Joining Quay Street Productions in 2021 was a \u201cfull circle moment\u201d for McAllister, who has been with the Manchester-based indie since its inception. Founded by Nicola Shindler as part of ITV Studios, the company takes its name from the iconic street where Granada Television was once based.<\/p>\n With credits including The Stolen Girl, McAllister\u2019s new role involves driving what she describes as \u201cambitious, bold ideas\u201d, helping to steer the indie\u2019s slate in \u201cexciting new directions\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been such an amazing opportunity and privilege. It means the world to me personally, because Nicola is just a hero of mine.<\/p>\n \u201cI loved her output at RED [Productions] so much and I think we\u2019ve got really similar tastes, so it feels like a very full circle moment to get the job in the first place and then to get head of development is a proper pinch me moment.\u201d<\/p>\n Behind the scenes of After the Flood S2<\/strong><\/p>\n That takes us to one of her more recent \u201cproud\u201d moments, becoming a producer for the first time on series two of After the Flood, which returns on Sunday, 18 January.<\/p>\n Sophie Rundle returns as Jo Marshall, now tackling another complex case in Waterside. The first series ended on a cliffhanger, with Marshall facing a moral dilemma about how to tackle a web of police corruption and changing relationships, all while navigating being a new mum.<\/p>\n In series two, this moral dilemma sets the tone against the rising tensions in Waterside, with the looming threats of moorland fires and flooding.<\/p>\n \u201cJo discovered a lot about Pat [her husband, played by Matt Stokoe] at the end of the last series and we ended on a question about what she\u2019ll do,\u201d McAllister explains.<\/p>\n \u201cIf she\u2019d have come clean at the end of series one, the consequences on her and Pat would have been enormous, but she\u2019s an incredibly moral person. How could she not do that? This series explores the third way, how can she do the right thing on her own terms?\u201d<\/p>\n Sophie Rundle as Jo Marshall in After the Flood. Credit: ITV<\/p>\n If there\u2019s one word to describe what viewers can expect from series two, McAllister suggests it\u2019s \u201csubterfuge\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cJo and Pat work together in a different way. There is an element of the audience seeing a lot more than we did in series one, but the characters may be lying to each other in a different way to try and trap them. It\u2019s subterfuge and a lot of cat and mouse\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n That emphasis on character has always been central to After the Flood. Written by BAFTA-nominated writer and actor Mick Ford, the second series digs much deeper into some of the characters introduced in series one from Jo\u2019s husband, Pat Holman, to Sergeant Phil Mackie (played by Nicholas Gleaves).<\/p>\n \u201cHe [Mick Ford] is so brilliant with characters, and to combine that with our tastes, with twists and story, surprises, subterfuge and blind alleys, it is a really lovely combination but it does take a lot of process. You want to keep things surprising for the audience\u2026 so it\u2019s quite a long process of setting everything up in episode one and getting the six scripts together.\u201d<\/p>\n Alongside Ford, co-writers Joe Forrest and Maxine Alderton contributed to a \u201ccollaborative\u201d writing process that took around eight months from first draft to final scripts, with even some of the cast feeding into the creative process.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a huge collaboration and we\u2019re just so lucky that this show is a bit magic, because everybody on either side of the camera is dreamy.\u201d<\/p>\n Praising the \u201cincredible cast\u201d, returning cast members include Lorraine Ashbourne, Nicholas Gleaves, Philip Glenister and Matt Stokoe, while series two also welcomes Jill Halfpenny, Alun Armstrong and Ian Puleston-Davies, while Huw Kennair-Jones serves as executive producer for ITV.<\/p>\n It may be a bit too early to confirm a third series before the second series has even aired yet, but McAllister believes the world of After the Flood and Waterside has plenty of potential.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way Mick\u2019s written it, it\u2019s such a gorgeous balance of thriller, character and community, so it does feel quite unique. A lot of thrillers, and these are thrillers I love by the way, can be very intense and very urgent, whereas I think this [After the Flood] has something that makes it really unique, which is that warmth and that heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI do think that there\u2019s enough mileage in Waterside for it to come back, but whether it does or not, it\u2019s entirely up to ITV.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe might be given an opportunity to spread our wings a bit more\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n After the Flood is currently in the spotlight but when asked about the wider development landscape, McAllister acknowledges it has been a \u201cslow couple of years\u201d for the industry.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing really well at Quay Street, but the industry is not as strong as it has been. Funding is more difficult than it has ever been. Channels are understandably a bit more risk-averse than they have been in the past.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat excites me about now is, and I\u2019m a positive person so it might just be psychosomatic, I do feel that things are changing. People are asking for more interesting, exciting briefs from us.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve always had a really brilliant, diverse slate with lots of different genres in there that still have really bold storytelling, character-led drama and emotionally grounded stories but it feels like now we might be given an opportunity to spread our wings a bit more and hopefully get a few more green lights in a bit more of a varied way.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked how Quay Street plans to do this, and how her own experiences might shape the stories the indie chooses to bring to TV in future, McAllister pointed to Nicola Shindler\u2019s output at RED Productions and its commitment to uncovering \u201creally authentic voices to celebrate working class experiences\u201d.<\/p>\n Nicola Shindler<\/p>\n \u201cIt would treat the working class experience in the same way you see people treat royalty. [Shindler] did that with things like Clocking Off, the way it really got under the skin of people\u2019s real lives and found that authenticity in place, something that felt very distinct in Manchester.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re unashamedly entertaining. We want people to love watching our shows. We love a hook, we love a twist, we love things that are surprising. But at the same time, we always want everything to feel really emotionally grounded.\u201d<\/p>\n Producing and being part of an indie based outside of London remains an advantage, McAllister adds, shaping everything from casting and crew to storytelling itself.<\/p>\n \u201cOur crew are almost exclusively Northern based. We have such a brilliant relationship with a lot of Northern talent. We do occasionally allow southerners to come up and work with us now and again,\u201d she teases.<\/p>\n \u201cThe major part really is the location, though. We film as much as we possibly can up in the North, just because that\u2019s where we are. After the Flood is a really good example of how that can really benefit a show.\u201d From \u2018beautiful white stone buildings\u2019 in Glossop to shooting around the moors just outside of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, she adds: \u201cWe\u2019re spoiled for choice in this area!\u201d<\/p>\n So, what\u2019s the secret sauce behind Quay Street Productions\u2019 success so far? \u201cIt\u2019s Nicola Shindler, that\u2019s it. She\u2019s amazing. She would absolutely detest me for saying this\u2026 I\u2019m fairly certain she\u2019s a genius,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n \u201cShe reads everything and is across everything. I also feel like she\u2019s very in touch with what people want to watch, because it\u2019s what we want to watch. We make things that we love.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking ahead, the indie has recently wrapped up filming on two shows including the highly anticipated Tip Toe for Channel 4<\/a>, filmed entirely across Manchester, and six-part crime drama The Blame.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/After-the-Flood-s2-1024x576.jpg\"\/)
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