Before the Flood (Doctor Who)

255b – "Before the Flood"
255b – "Before the Flood"
Doctor Who episode
Cast
	Doctor Peter Capaldi – Twelfth Doctor;
	Companion Jenna Coleman – Clara Oswald;
	Others Colin McFarlane – Moran; Sophie Stone – Cass; Zaqi Ismail – Lunn; Morven Christie – O'Donnell; Arsher Ali – Bennett; Steven Robertson – Pritchard; Paul Kaye – Prentis; Neil Fingleton – Fisher King; Peter Serafinowicz – Voice of Fisher King; Corey Taylor – Roar of Fisher King;
Production
Directed by	Daniel O'Hara
Written by	Toby Whithouse
Script editor	Nick Lambon
Produced by	Derek Ritchie
Executive producer(s)	Steven Moffat; Brian Minchin
Music by	Murray Gold
Series	Series 9
Running time	2nd of 2-part story, 42 minutes
First broadcast	10 October 2015
Chronology
← Preceded by; "Under the Lake"	Followed by →; "The Girl Who Died"
	List of episodes (2005–present)

"Before the Flood" is the fourth episode of the ninth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was written by Toby Whithouse and directed by Daniel O'Hara. It was first broadcast on 10 October 2015, and is the second part of a two-part story; the first part, "Under the Lake", aired on 3 October.

Set in Scotland in 1980 and 2119, the episode is a "bootstrap paradox" where the alien time traveller the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) prevents the invasion plot of an alien called the Fisher King (Neil Fingleton and Peter Serafinowicz) while also saving the life of the Doctor's companion Clara (Jenna Coleman) in the future through the use of information the Doctor received that he would later send to himself.

The episode was watched by 6.05 million viewers and received positive reviews, who praised Capaldi’s performance, but criticised the utilisation of the Fisher King.