Stories Television Doctor Who Series 9 Episode: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Before the Flood 1 image Overview Characters How to Watch Reviews 3 Statistics Related Stories Quotes 3 Transcript + Script Overview First aired Saturday, October 10, 2015 Written by Toby Whithouse Directed by Daniel O'Hara Runtime 45 minutes Story Type Two-Parter Time Travel Past, Future Tropes (Potential Spoilers!) Base Under Siege, Bootstrap Paradox, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Mind Control, Sign Language, Time Travel Pivotal Story Arc (Potential Spoilers!) Am I a Good Man? Location (Potential Spoilers!) Earth, Scotland UK Viewers 6.05 million Appreciation Index 83 Synopsis A twisted and vile survival plan is pieced together by an alien warlord called the Fisher King. The universe will feel the consequence. Can these events be stopped? Can the Doctor ensure the future's coming and do the impossible? Watch Watched Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved Edit date completed Custom Date Release Date Archive (no date) Save Characters Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi Clara Oswald Jenna Coleman The Fisher King The Fisher King's Ghosts Tivolian Show All Characters (5) How to watch Before the Flood: Watch on iPlayer Blu-Ray The Complete Ninth Series DVD The Complete Ninth Series Blu-Ray Series 9: Part 1 DVD Series 9: Part 1 Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Default Date (Newest First) Date (Oldest First) Likes (High-Low) Likes (Low-High) Rating (High-Low) Rating (Low-High) Word count (High-Low) Word count (Low-High) Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 3 reviews 30 April 2024 · 140 words Review by TrakeniteAdventuress Spoilers 5 This review contains spoilers! In my opinion, this story might just be the peak of Doctor Who. Likeable side characters are always a good thing, and this story might have the most well rounded one-off characters of NuWho (Big Finish box set when?), but that's merely an aside to the true meat of this story. A time travel story that isn't overly complex, whilst still using a well-known paradox. And the explanation of that paradox, 12 breaking the fourth wall and playing guitar, might just be the most Doctor Who scene ever. Meanwhile, in the future, we have a fantastic Base Under Siege, with a classic example of Who taking the supernatural and making it scientific. The Fisher King has a fantastic design, and his ghosts look wonderfully spooky. I love this story, and it has been my comfort watch since first airing. 10/10 No notes TrakeniteAdventuress View profile Like Liked 5 16 April 2025 · 121 words Review by 15thDoctor 2 This production just seems a bit off to me. The Fischer King looks kind of whack. A monster a director would typically want to keep to the shadows, with half glimpses but for so much of proceedings is in full view; warts and all. Murray Gold’s music seems to be stuck in a loop with the same couple of pieces playing again and again. Others seem to love the guest characters, but I must admit there it is only Cass who particularly stands out to me. The others seem pretty interchangeable. I do like Clara and The Doctor’s performances though. They are on fire this series. And having a lot of fun, which is just what I need from these two. 15thDoctor View profile Like Liked 2 15 June 2025 · 175 words Review by Jann New Who Review #121 Before the Flood This story was alright. I did prefer part one because I felt myself get slightly bored during part two. I love the rock theme in this and that cold open was honestly amazing. I love when the doctor breaks the 4th wall and this was a perfect example of that. We even got the rock theme played by Peter Capaldi himself. Part two was way too confusing for my brain to follow along which is why I got lost and just stopped really caring which is never what I should be feeling during any story. The death of O Donnell was sad because she was the best side character in this. The Fisher King itself was honestly scary and had a good design. The reveal that the doctor ghost was just a hologram takes away from the cliffhanger but sure I guess. Also I love Clara's outfit in this it's so adorable. Overall a confusing story that has a good idea but you can get lost in part two. 6/10 Jann View profile Like Liked 0 Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating896 members 3.82 / 5 Member Statistics Watched 1817 Favourited 164 Reviewed 3 Saved 5 Skipped 1 Related Stories Doctor Who S9 • Episode 3 Under the Lake Rating: 3.86 Story Skipped Television Reviews(4) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Doctor Who Series 9 Set of Stories: Doctor Who (2005-2022) Set of Stories: Twelfth Doctor Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Quotes Add Quote Link to Quote Favourite Tags: TwelveClara DOCTOR: I can't change what's already happened. There are rules. CLARA: So break them. And anyway, you owe me. You've made yourself essential to me. You've given me something else to, to be. And you can't do that and then die. It's not fair. DOCTOR: Clara. CLARA: No. Doctor, I don't care about your rules or your bloody survivor's guilt. If you love me in any way, you'll come back. Doctor, are you? — Before the Flood Show All Quotes (3) Open in new window Transcript + Script Needs checking [TARDIS] (The Doctor is giving us, the viewers, a lecture.) DOCTOR: So there's this man. He has a time machine. Up and down history he goes, zip zip zip zip zip, getting into scrapes. (He goes up to the gallery.) DOCTOR: Another thing he has is a passion for the works of Ludwig van Beethoven. Show Full Transcript Open in new window View Script (PDF)
