Clive and Leo. played by David Morrissey and Alan Cumming (Photo: Channel 4)
Russell T Davies’s Tip Toe is superb.
Combining outstanding performances with sharp, intelligent writing, itt confronts the growing hostility faced by LGBT+ people while asking questions about the society that produces such hatred.
At the centre of the story are neighbours Leo and Clive, played superbly by Alan Cumming and David Morrissey.
Leo is warm, charismatic and at times frustratingly naïve, while Clive is never reduced to a simple villain, as chilling as Morrissey’s portrayal of him is.
Instead, we see a man consumed by insecurity, resentment and fear, overwhelmed by contradictions he is unable to resolve.
Morrissey’s performance is particularly impressive, showing how prejudice can grow not through monstrous intent but through bitterness, frustration and a desperate search for someone else to blame.
The writing is strongest when it explores how wider social pressures shape individual lives. Social isolation, toxic masculinity, online radicalisation and family tensions all play important roles in the drama.
Tip Toe suggests that when people struggle to cope with lives shaped by insecurity and uncertainty, reactionary ideas can take root.
The targets are often those who are seen as different, visible or vulnerable.
What makes the series so effective, however, is its insistence that this hatred does not emerge from nowhere. Casual prejudice, culture war rhetoric and political attacks on LGBT+ rights accumulate until discrimination begins to feel normal.
Davies asks us to consider what happens when politicians, the media and world leaders spend years questioning the legitimacy of LGBT+ lives.
The consequences, he suggests, are not confined to newspaper columns or social media debates. They find their way into homes, workplaces and communities.
I found the final episode almost impossible to watch without anger. Its violence is shocking and graphic.
But what lingers afterwards is the realisation that the forces driving the tragedy are all too recognisable.
Across Britain and beyond, LGBT+ people, and other oppressed groups, are increasingly being turned into political footballs by governments and opportunistic politicians looking for scapegoats.
We have seen this very recently with Reform UK removing Pride flags in Gateshead and whipping up hatred towards minority groups in Southampton.
Yet Tip Toe is not a counsel of despair. The anger it generates should not lead to hopelessness but to action.
Every right won by LGBT+ people was achieved through struggle, solidarity and resistance.
Davies has created a drama that points a finger at what is going wrong in our world, but also reminds us that we have a responsibility to challenge it.
Tip Toe is gripping, devastating television—and a timely call to fight back.
- Tip Toe is available on the Channel 4 On Demand
