Tip Toe - Press Pack

Category: Press Pack

27 May 2026

“I used to walk into rooms and go, ta-daa! Now I walk on tip toe. In case I get seen.”

Emmy and Tony award-winner and Golden Globe and SAG Award nominee Alan Cumming (The Traitors, Glenrothan) is Leo, vivid, funny and dynamic, he’s the owner of a bar called Spit & Polish in Manchester’s Gay Village.

BAFTA-nominated and RTS-winner David Morrissey (Sherwood, Daddy Issues) is Clive, Leo’s unsmiling and troubled next-door neighbour.

The five-part series follows Leo and Clive who 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.

Also joining the cast are Pooky Quesnel (The A Word, Moonflower Murders) as Clive’s wife Marie, Jackson Connor (Phoenix Rise, Masters of the Air) as Clive’s youngest son George, Joseph Evans (The Map That Leads To You, CC Emily) as George’s older brother Saul, Elizabeth Berrington (Lost Boys & Fairies, Last Night In Soho) as Leo’s best friend Stephanie, Iz Hesketh (Renegade Nell, Hollyoaks) as Zee and Shakeel Kimotho (La Cage Aux Folles (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre)), CATS (International Tour) as Hanna, who both work at Spit & Polish, Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo (Wednesday, Devs) as the bar’s manager Judy, Paul Rhys (Saltburn, Napoleon) as Melba, a Canal Street fixture, Charlie Condou (Doctor Who, Unforgotten) as Leo’s ex-husband Curtis, and Denise Welch (Waterloo Road, Coronation Street) 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 is 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 is 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.

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Press Pack

27 May 26 Press Pack Article

INTERVIEW WITH RUSSELL T DAVIES, WRITER, CREATOR AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

How did the idea for Tip Toe come to you? The story started very simply, with me giving my neighbour my front door key. I’m away a lot, parcels get delivered and they sit there like an advert for your house to be burgled, so you give your neighbour a key. Now, my neighbour is lovely, but as a

27 May 26 Press Pack Article

INTERVIEW WITH PETER HOAR, DIRECTOR AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

How did Russell T Davies first explain Tip Toe to you? I’d already worked with Russell on It’s A Sin, Doctor Who and Nolly. A script arrived with an email saying “This is yours if you want it. Read it and let me know what you think.” I read episode one, which was all that existed at that point, hot

27 May 26 Press Pack Article

INTERVIEW WITH ALAN CUMMING WHO PLAYS LEO STRUTHERS

Who is Leo Struthers? Leo is a man nearing sixty who has recently broken up with his partner and is struggling to keep his business, a gay bar called Spit and Polish, on Canal St. together. He’s a man who is a little bit lost, but functioning. He means well. He’s kind. He’s got his found family

27 May 26 Press Pack Article

INTERVIEW WITH DAVID MORRISSEY, WHO PLAYS CLIVE GOSS

What is Tip Toe and who is Clive Goss in the story? It’s a five part drama which is essentially about two men who are neighbours, one played by Alan Cumming, who is Leo, a gay man who runs a bar in Canal St and his neighbour Clive, played by me. Clive is an underemployed electrician, struggling to

27 May 26 Press Pack Article

INTERVIEW WITH JACKSON CONNOR, WHO PLAYS GEORGE GOSS, AND JOSEPH EVANS, WHO PLAYS SAUL GOSS

How would you describe Tip Toe? JC: It’s an exciting, brand-new Channel 4 drama written by Russell T Davies, exploring themes affecting the LGBTQ+ community in modern society. It explores how words can become weapons. The show focusses on two next door neighbours, Leo Struthers and Clive Goss

27 May 26 Press Pack Article

INTERVIEW WITH PAUL RHYS WHO PLAYS MELBA

Who is Melba in Tip Toe? At first, I felt like somebody who is like Melba should be playing this role. That should be a Manchester fixture. People say what is Melba? I go to say a Manchester drag queen. And that’s wrong. He is Leo’s great friend, propping up the end of the bar at Spit and Polish. He

27 May 26 Press Pack Article

INTERVIEW WITH THE SPIT AND POLISH CREW:

Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo (Judy), Iz Hesketh (Zee), Gabriel Clark (Mikey) and Shakeel Kimotho (Hannah) Describe Spit and Polish to me… LULN: Spit and Polish is a queer bar on a queer strip, in this case Canal Street in Manchester. It’s your favourite watering hole. It’s charming and queer as heck

27 May 26 Press Pack Article

INTERVIEW WITH ELIZABETH BERRINGTON WHO PLAYS STEPHANIE

How would you describe Tip Toe? Without giving the game away, it’s about the events that lead up to a very plausible and tragic event on the UK streets. It’s something horrific that we know is out there, and the day to day details that bring you there like a high speed train. How did the script make

27 May 26 Press Pack Article

INTERVIEW WITH CHARLIE CONDOU WHO PLAYS CURTIS

What is Tip Toe? Tip Toe is a drama, with funny bits, from Russell T Davies, about two warring neighbours, played by Alan Cumming and David Morrissey. It’s about how the underlying vague intolerance that defines our times can turn into something quite horrific. How sometimes, with the best will in

27 May 26 Press Pack Article

INTERVIEW WITH DENISE WELCH WHO PLAYS DIANE

How was the approach made to you about playing Diane in Tip Toe? I’d heard that Tip Toe was happening. I had always been, like most people, a huge fan of Russell T Davies, but we had never actually worked together. I had known him socially. We bumped into one another. I’d first met him because my ex