As the final week of filming continues on the multi-BAFTA award-winning writer Russell T Davies’ (It’s a Sin, Queer as Folk, Years and Years) new five-part drama Tip Toe, Channel 4 has released first look images featuring leads Alan Cumming and David Morrissey.
Emmy and Tony award-winner and Golden Globe and SAG Award nominee Alan Cumming (The Traitors, Glenrothan) is Leo; vivid, funny and dynamic, the owner of a bar called Spit & Polish in Manchester’s Gay Village.
Tip Toe
BAFTA-nominated and RTS-winner David Morrissey is Clive, Leo’s unsmiling and troubled next-door neighbour.
Leo and Clive have lived next door to each other in Manchester for almost 15 years. But just as life should be settling down, the world around them is growing more tense.
Words become weapons, opinions become radicalised, and gradually, two neighbours become deadly enemies in a tense, suburban thriller which challenges everything we consider to be safe.
The series, populated with a cast of vibrant characters and underscored with Davies’ trademark wit and deft humour, is an urgent tale that brings a spotlight to bear on the prejudices which are creeping back into our lives, in a story that speaks not just to the queer community but to the world today.
“We’re in the final days of filming, and I’m so excited for 2026 – this show has some of the finest acting I’ve ever seen, from the most splendid cast, and I can’t wait for it to hit Channel 4”, said Russell T Davies.
Filmed entirely in Manchester the series also stars Pooky Quesnel as Clive’s wife Marie, Jackson Connor as Clive’s youngest son George, Joseph Evans as George’s older brother Saul, Elizabeth Berrington as Leo’s best friend Stephanie, Iz Hesketh as Zee and Shakeel Kimotho as Hanna, who both work at Spit & Polish, Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo as the bar’s manager Judy, Paul Rhys as Melba, a Canal Street fixture, Charlie Condou as Leo’s ex-husband Curtis, and Denise Welch as Diane.
Russell T Davies’ most recent Channel 4 drama was the extraordinary and critically acclaimed, It’s A Sin, which powerfully examined the devastating human story behind the 1980s AIDS crisis and went on to become Channel 4’s biggest ever instant boxset on streaming.
Tip Toe will be produced by Quay Street Productions (part of ITV Studios), with Nicola Shindler, Russell T Davies, Peter Hoar and Alan Cumming serving as Executive Producers.
The series will be produced by Phil Collinson, Directed by Peter Hoar and is cast by Andy Pryor. Gemma Boswell is the Commissioning Editor at Channel 4. Tip Toe is produced in association with ITV Studios who will distribute the show internationally.