Flood (film)
Encyclopedia
Flood is a British disaster film
from 2007, directed by Tony Mitchell
It features Robert Carlyle
, Jessalyn Gilsig
, David Suchet
and Tom Courtenay
, and is based on the 2002 novel of the same name
by Richard Doyle
.
strikes London
when the Thames Barrier
is overwhelmed by a huge surge of water. A storm surge
travels between the United Kingdom
and mainland Europe
, raising sea level
s and coinciding with the spring tide. Several parts of Scotland are devastated, including Wick
.
The Met Office
's head forecaster, Keith Hopkins, mistakenly believes the storm will head towards Holland and is guilt-ridden after Professor Leonard Morrison proves that the approaching surge of water will break through the Thames Barrier and flood central London. Leonard had focused his life around the belief that the barrier was built in the wrong area, and turned his now apologetic son Rob into a bitter man.
Deputy Prime Minister
Campbell, in charge while the prime minister is away, declares a state of emergency
. He begins to evacuate civilians from London before the water hits. He is assisted by Police Commissioner Patricia Nash, Major General Ashcroft and others.
The water overwhelms the barrier. Rob and his wife Sam, both expert engineers, jump into the Thames to escape. Leonard is saved by a military helicopter and taken to Whitehall
, where the authority figures desperately require his assistance in finding a way to handle this emergency.
Rob and Sam end up in the London Underground
with other survivors. They are led to higher ground by two underground workers, Bill and Zack, but a fast-moving current of water kills Bill. The group find themselves in the flooded Trafalgar Square
, where Rob and Sam are able to contact Leonard. They end up returning with him to the barrier, where Leonard believes the water flow can be reversed back out of London. The military's Ashcroft disagrees and prepares to destroy the barrier with an air strike.
Hopkins, feeling even more guilty when thousands corpses are shown on a news report, quietly disappears and is later reported by Ashcroft to be dead, an apparent suicide. Nash is at odds with Ashcroft, wanting to give the Morrisons a chance to remedy the situation, while also distraught over her own two missing daughters.
Rob, Sam and Leonard discover the controls to the barrier are now underwater. One can activate them, but likely will not survive the effort. Rob and Sam try to decide which of them should go when Leonard leaves on the suicide mission behind their backs. He runs out of air whilst underwater and drowns, but saves London as a result.
for 11 weeks. It is notable for the use of intricate production design and special effects in depicting famous London landmarks such as the London Underground
, Houses of Parliament and The O2
being partially submerged under water.
Twenty-six studio sets were constructed with built-in water effects to shoot the actors in a wide range of flood sequences. Miniature sets in water tanks were used to shoot larger flooded buildings such as the Thames Barrier, London Underground and car parks. Computer generated visual effects were used to create shots of flooded London by combining shots of London with digitally created water. Locations in Cape Town were used for Whitehall, the Scottish coastline, London Underground and the Thames Barrier.
on 4 and 5 May 2008 and released in the UK on DVD 27 October 2008. It also played as a mini-series in New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Finland and Denmark. The extended version was repeated on ITV3
on 10 and 11 January 2011.
Disaster film
A disaster film is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject...
from 2007, directed by Tony Mitchell
Tony Mitchell (director)
Tony Mitchell is a Canadian-British film and TV director, born in Toronto, who moved to London in his teens . He specialises in documentary enactments, using advanced special effects, but has also directed two fiction films: Supervolcano and Flood...
It features Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle, OBE is a Scottish film and television actor. He is known for a variety of roles including those in Trainspotting, Hamish Macbeth, The Full Monty, The World Is Not Enough, Angela's Ashes, The 51st State, and 28 Weeks Later...
, Jessalyn Gilsig
Jessalyn Gilsig
Jessalyn Gilsig is a Canadian actress known for her roles in the television series Boston Public, Nip/Tuck and as Will Schuester's ex-wife Terri Schuester in Glee...
, David Suchet
David Suchet
David Suchet, CBE, is an English actor, known for his work on British television. He is recognised for his RTS- and BPG award-winning performance as Augustus Melmotte in the 2001 British TV mini-drama The Way We Live Now, alongside Matthew Macfadyen and Paloma Baeza, and a 1991 British Academy...
and Tom Courtenay
Tom Courtenay
Sir Thomas Daniel "Tom" Courtenay is an English actor who came to prominence in the early 1960s with a succession of films including The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner , Billy Liar , and Dr. Zhivago . Since the mid-1960s he has been known primarily for his work in the theatre...
, and is based on the 2002 novel of the same name
Flood (novel)
Flood is a 2002 disaster thriller novel by Richard Doyle. Set in present day London, the novel depicts a disastrous flood and fire of London, caused by a storm, and the consequential accident at an oil refinery, and failure of the Thames Barrier....
by Richard Doyle
Richard Doyle (author)
Richard Doyle is a British author of thriller novels.Doyle was born in Guernsey and, on his third birthday, was presented at the court of Emperor Haile Selassie. He has lived in Tripoli, Ethiopia, Kuwait, Kenya, Morocco, Libya, Beirut, Barbados, Antigua, France, Greece, Ireland, and the United...
.
Synopsis
A devastating floodFlood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
strikes London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
when the Thames Barrier
Thames Barrier
The Thames Barrier is the world's second-largest movable flood barrier and is located downstream of central London. Its purpose is to prevent London from being flooded by exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving up from the sea...
is overwhelmed by a huge surge of water. A storm surge
Storm surge
A storm surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure weather system, typically tropical cyclones and strong extratropical cyclones. Storm surges are caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface. The wind causes the water to pile up higher than the ordinary sea...
travels between the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and mainland Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, raising sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
s and coinciding with the spring tide. Several parts of Scotland are devastated, including Wick
Wick, Highland
Wick is an estuary town and a royal burgh in the north of the Highland council area of Scotland. Historically, it is one of two burghs within the county of Caithness, of which Wick was the county town. The town straddles the River Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay...
.
The Met Office
Met Office
The Met Office , is the United Kingdom's national weather service, and a trading fund of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
's head forecaster, Keith Hopkins, mistakenly believes the storm will head towards Holland and is guilt-ridden after Professor Leonard Morrison proves that the approaching surge of water will break through the Thames Barrier and flood central London. Leonard had focused his life around the belief that the barrier was built in the wrong area, and turned his now apologetic son Rob into a bitter man.
Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some counties, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, but is significantly different, though both...
Campbell, in charge while the prime minister is away, declares a state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
. He begins to evacuate civilians from London before the water hits. He is assisted by Police Commissioner Patricia Nash, Major General Ashcroft and others.
The water overwhelms the barrier. Rob and his wife Sam, both expert engineers, jump into the Thames to escape. Leonard is saved by a military helicopter and taken to Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...
, where the authority figures desperately require his assistance in finding a way to handle this emergency.
Rob and Sam end up in the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
with other survivors. They are led to higher ground by two underground workers, Bill and Zack, but a fast-moving current of water kills Bill. The group find themselves in the flooded Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
, where Rob and Sam are able to contact Leonard. They end up returning with him to the barrier, where Leonard believes the water flow can be reversed back out of London. The military's Ashcroft disagrees and prepares to destroy the barrier with an air strike.
Hopkins, feeling even more guilty when thousands corpses are shown on a news report, quietly disappears and is later reported by Ashcroft to be dead, an apparent suicide. Nash is at odds with Ashcroft, wanting to give the Morrisons a chance to remedy the situation, while also distraught over her own two missing daughters.
Rob, Sam and Leonard discover the controls to the barrier are now underwater. One can activate them, but likely will not survive the effort. Rob and Sam try to decide which of them should go when Leonard leaves on the suicide mission behind their backs. He runs out of air whilst underwater and drowns, but saves London as a result.
Cast
- Rob Morrison - Robert CarlyleRobert CarlyleRobert Carlyle, OBE is a Scottish film and television actor. He is known for a variety of roles including those in Trainspotting, Hamish Macbeth, The Full Monty, The World Is Not Enough, Angela's Ashes, The 51st State, and 28 Weeks Later...
- Sam Morrison - Jessalyn GilsigJessalyn GilsigJessalyn Gilsig is a Canadian actress known for her roles in the television series Boston Public, Nip/Tuck and as Will Schuester's ex-wife Terri Schuester in Glee...
- Leonard Morrison - Tom CourtenayTom CourtenaySir Thomas Daniel "Tom" Courtenay is an English actor who came to prominence in the early 1960s with a succession of films including The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner , Billy Liar , and Dr. Zhivago . Since the mid-1960s he has been known primarily for his work in the theatre...
- Commissioner Patricia Nash - Joanne WhalleyJoanne Whalley-Early life:Whalley was born in Salford but brought up in Stockport where she studied at the Braeside School of Speech and Drama, Marple.Whalley first appeared as a child in How We Used To Live and bit parts in soap operas, especially Coronation Street and Emmerdale...
- Met Officer Keith Hopkins - Nigel PlanerNigel PlanerNigel George Planer is an English actor, comedian, novelist and playwright.Planer is perhaps best known for his role as Neil Pye in the cult BBC comedy The Young Ones. He has appeared in many West End musicals, including Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked and Hairspray...
- Deputy Prime Minister Campbell - David SuchetDavid SuchetDavid Suchet, CBE, is an English actor, known for his work on British television. He is recognised for his RTS- and BPG award-winning performance as Augustus Melmotte in the 2001 British TV mini-drama The Way We Live Now, alongside Matthew Macfadyen and Paloma Baeza, and a 1991 British Academy...
- Wyatt - Martin BallMartin BallMartin Ball is an English theatre and television actor. He was born and grew up in Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent. He trained at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, and graduated in 1992.-Career:...
- General Ashcroft - David HaymanDavid HaymanDavid Hayman is a Scottish film and television actor and director, best known for his role as DCS Mike Walker in ITV drama Trial and Retribution. He also a prominent supporter of the SNP's call for Scottish independence....
Production
The film was shot on location in London for two weeks and in South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
for 11 weeks. It is notable for the use of intricate production design and special effects in depicting famous London landmarks such as the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
, Houses of Parliament and The O2
The O2 arena (London)
The O2 Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the centre of The O2, a large entertainment complex on the Greenwich peninsula in London, England.With a capacity of up to 20,000 depending on the event, it is second largest...
being partially submerged under water.
Twenty-six studio sets were constructed with built-in water effects to shoot the actors in a wide range of flood sequences. Miniature sets in water tanks were used to shoot larger flooded buildings such as the Thames Barrier, London Underground and car parks. Computer generated visual effects were used to create shots of flooded London by combining shots of London with digitally created water. Locations in Cape Town were used for Whitehall, the Scottish coastline, London Underground and the Thames Barrier.
Release
A 110 minute version of the film was given a limited theatrical release in the UK, premiering on 24 August 2007 and was released on DVD in the UK on 29 October 2007. An extended two-part TV version was screened on ITV1ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
on 4 and 5 May 2008 and released in the UK on DVD 27 October 2008. It also played as a mini-series in New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Finland and Denmark. The extended version was repeated on ITV3
ITV3
ITV3 is an entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom that is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. The channel was launched on 1 November 2004. ITV3 is the second largest UK multi-channel, second only to ITV2.-History:...
on 10 and 11 January 2011.