Russell T Davies’ Tip Toe explores rising prejudice in Manchester

Rain fell over the Manchester film studio where two terraced houses had been rebuilt for Tip Toe, Russell T Davies’ five-part Channel 4 drama about how a neighbourly feud can curdle into something far uglier. The set visit underlined the series’ central idea: in a city tied to queer history and nightlife, a dispute between two men becomes a tense suburban thriller about prejudice, fear and radicalisation.

Alan Cumming plays Leo Struthers, a 59-year-old bar owner in Manchester’s Gay Village, and the part was pitched to him before the script was written. The sharpest twist comes early: Leo is dead from the start of episode one, although viewers do not immediately know how or when. Cumming said that was the hook, and called the project “so relevant and so needed.” David Morrissey plays Clive Goss, Leo’s next-door neighbour, an electrician with two teenage sons whose relationship with Leo turns increasingly poisonous.

Davies has said the drama is about “the radicalization of society” and the way the online world moves into real life. Channel 4 says Tip Toe explores the re-emergence of prejudice facing the LGBTQ+ community, and Davies has argued that the story reaches beyond one community, landing on multiple minority groups caught in the path of rising hostility. He has also described the series as his “angriest and darkest” yet, saying that “the world is getting stranger, tougher and darker” and “the fight is on.”

The series marks a major return to Channel 4 for Davies 25 years after Queer as Folk, bringing him back to Manchester and Canal Street with long-time collaborator Nicola Shindler and members of the It’s A Sin team. Davies has pointed to It’s A Sin as proof that television can still shift public attention, noting that it became Channel 4’s biggest ever instant boxset on streaming. He has also said he wishes TV could change the world faster, but Tip Toe suggests he is no longer waiting for that to happen before making the argument.

Channel 4 announced Tip Toe on 13 February 2025 and later confirmed a launch on Sunday 31 May 2026 at 9pm. First-look images showed Leo on Canal Street and Clive arriving from work, while the cast also includes Pooky Quesnel, Jackson Connor, Joseph Evans, Elizabeth Berrington, Iz Hesketh, Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo, Paul Rhys, Charlie Condou, Denise Welch and Shakeel Kimotho. Directed by Peter Hoar and produced by Quay Street Productions, part of ITV Studios, the series stands out in a crowded field because it uses a tightly wound thriller form to turn contemporary social anxiety into character-driven conflict, with Manchester itself at the center of the blast radius.