Tip Toe on Channel 4: An explosive, uncompromising drama for our times

Suburban Manchester, 2026. Leo and Clive have lived next door to each other for 15 years, a period of peaceful co-existence. But tensions are rising around the country, and this quiet street is no exception. Leo is gay, and Clive finds he is increasingly uncomfortable. Emotions turn extreme and words become weapons. A feud erupts, and violence seems inevitable.

This is Tip Toe, the new drama from superstar TV writer Russell T Davies (Doctor Who, It’s A Sin), which begins on Channel 4 HD (CH 104) on Sunday 31 May. In classic Davies fashion, it’s gripping and shocking, but balances that with plenty of heart and humour. Davies describes it as “a show I had to write because the world is getting stranger, tougher and darker, and frankly, the fight is on.”

Alan Cumming, most recently seen hosting The Traitors US, stars as Canal Street bar owner Leo, alongside David Morrissey (Sherwood, Daddy Issues, The Walking Dead) as electrician Clive. Tip Toe promises vibrant characters, deft wit, and stark insight into modern-day Britain. Here’s the trailer. 

We can’t wait to immerse ourselves in this explosive new series from one of the country’s finest writing talents. Here are all the reasons Tip Toe is going to be essential viewing.

He’s the writer who bestrides British TV like the proverbial colossus, from the groundbreaking Queer As Folk to the epic, era-spanning family drama Years And Years. Davies’s career has also included a sparky new take on an old story in Casanova, the one-of-a-kind religious tale The Second Coming, a sympathetic examination of a strange episode in modern political history in A Very English Scandal, and the absorbing story of a beloved soap star in Nolly.

And of course, he’s the writer responsible for the wonderful new incarnation of Doctor Who: he was the driving force behind the show’s revival, oversaw the incredible seasons featuring the Ninth and Tenth Doctors, then returned to the series after more than a decade with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors. He’s made us laugh, cry, gasp, cheer and (of course) hide behind the sofa in the course of all those time-travelling adventures, while bringing a marvellously empathetic, inclusive sensibility to the classic series. It’s hard to imagine British culture in the 21st century without his contribution, and it’s impossible to overstate his influence on British TV.

It’s easy to forget or diminish now, but when Queer As Folk hit screens in 1999, it was groundbreaking. TV dramas had had storylines about gay characters, but they often focused on difficulty and pain. QAF was a celebration of the hedonism of gay culture, based on Davies’s real experiences, and gave us rounded, three-dimensional characters who had other attributes other than simply “gay”. It was even credited with helping to change social attitudes – it premiered on the day the House of Lords was discussing the Bill that would eventually equalise the age of consent for homosexual and heterosexual people.

After another witty, romantic exploration of gay life in Cucumber, Davies took viewers back to the 80s for It’s A Sin, chronicling how a group of young gay people faced up to the AIDS crisis. Poignant and profound, it was hopeful at times and devastating at others, and offered mainstream audiences real insight into the trauma suffered by the LGBT community. The series was universally acclaimed for its themes, performances and visual style, snagging prizes galore including an RTS award for Davies.

It’s a sobering thought that Tip Toe, with its themes of simmering violence and dangerous bigotry, is something of a chronological bookend to this strand of the writer’s work. In Davies’s canon, the gay community has gone from suffering and intolerance to celebration, but now it’s back to suffering.

Recently we’ve got used to seeing Cumming as a TV host, delivering planned quips straight to camera in The Traitors US or on stage at the BAFTA Film Awards. But when he throws himself into a role, Cumming is a truly mesmerising presence: see his turns as mutant Nightcrawler in X-Men 2, brash lawyer Eli Gold in The Good Wife and tennis designer Ted Tinling in Battle Of The Sexes, as well as more movies as varied as Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion and Eyes Wide Shut.

This series is a labour of love for the Scot, who says he’d been trying to work with Davies for 20 years, and described Tip Toe’s subject matter as “overwhelming and brutal” on ITV1’s This Morning. “It’s about the way that violence and hatred are sort of normalised so much in our culture nowadays. It’s hopefully a wake-up call for everybody.”

“When I look over my roles, there’s always been men in crisis, and sometimes with secrets that they need to hold back,” Morrissey told BBC 6Music’s Nick Grimshaw in a recent interview. “I don’t want to play a person who isn’t going through some sort of trauma or drama.” He’s played it for laughs sometimes – as in the recent hit Daddy Issues – but it’s a signature of his best dramatic roles, from this breakthrough lead performance in 1997’s Holding On to Maurice Jobson in Red Riding, Terry in Neil LaBute’s A Dark Dark Place on stage and, best of all, conflicted police officer Ian St Clair in the acclaimed Sherwood. Tip Toe’s Clive has all the hallmarks of a classic Morrissey character: turmoil, misplaced anger, the simmering threat of violence.

Although Tip Toe is set among the gay community of Manchester, Davies has made it clear that the intimidation and vitriol his characters face isn’t restricted to one minority. In the light of recent vicious attacks on Jewish people, he said on BBC Radio 4, “a Jew could have written this… If this was a Jewish version of the story you wouldn’t be calling it timely, you’d be calling it too late.” Davies also noted that disabled people have been the targets of abuse and accusations of fraud.

The message is about what he calls “the radicalisation of society”. When neighbours become enemies and extremes become the norm, you might think you’re safe, but you’re not. It echoes the famous quote from anti-Nazi activist Martin Niemöller, which begins, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a socialist.” Eventually, there is no one to speak out for you.

As well as Cumming and Morrissey, familiar faces in the cast include Paul Rhys (Saltburn, Napoleon) as Melba, a Canal Street fixture, who delivers the telling line in the trailer: “I used to walk into a room and just go, ta-daa! Now I tip toe. Just in case.” There’s also Pooky Quesnel (Moonflower Murders) as Clive’s wife Marie, Elizabeth Berrington (Lost Boys & Fairies) as Leo’s best friend Stephanie and Denise Welch (Waterloo Road) as Diane.

Clive’s sons George and Saul, who have key roles in the in drama, are played by Jackson Connor (Phoenix Rise) and newcomer Joseph Evans, while we’re eager to see more from Iz Hesketh, Shakeel Kimotho and Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo, who all play staff at Leo’s bar Spit & Polish. Charlie Condou, Corrie’s Marcus, plays Leo’s ex Curtis.

The five-part series begins on Sunday 31 May at 9pm on Channel 4 HD (CH 104), continuing at 9pm on Monday 1 June. The first two episodes will be available in Apps > Channel 4 on 31 May. It continues on Sunday 7 June at 9pm on Channel 4 HD, and then on Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 June at the same time, with the final three episodes streaming in Apps > Channel 4 on 7 June.