Alan Cumming & David Morrissey Lead Russell T Davies’ New LGBTQ+ Drama

When It’s A Sin aired at the start of 2021, it became an instant (if devastating) hit. While its creator Russell T Davies is perhaps best known for his work reviving Doctor Who in 2005, the gay screenwriter is at his most impactful when he’s breaking boundaries and bringing very real LGBTQ+ stories and issues to the fore. Before It’s A Sin, this included Queer As Folk (1999–2000), Bob & Rose (2001), and Cucumber, Banana and Tofu (2015).

Next? Tip Toe: a brand new LGBTQ+ series commissioned by Channel 4. With filming officially underway in Manchester and Alan Cumming and David Morrissey confirmed as our lead stars, here’s everything we know so far.

Russell T Davies’ Tip Toe: Plot, Cast, Release Date & More

According to Channel 4, Tip Toe will delve into ‘the most corrosive forces facing the LGBTQ+ community today, examining the danger as prejudice creeps back into our lives.’

Described as ‘a tense, suburban thriller’, across five episodes we will follow the story of Manchester neighbours Leo (Cumming) and Clive (Morrissey). Funny and vivacious Leo runs a bar on Canal Street called Spit & Polish, while Clive is his unsmiling neighbour, an electrician with two teenage sons. And all are navigating the increasingly tense world unfolding around them.

Alan Cumming and David Morrissey. (Channel 4)

‘Problems we thought were long-gone are returning, toughened and weaponised, until no one knows the truth from lies any more,’ Channel 4 explains. ‘Words become weapons, opinions become radicalised, and gradually, two neighbours become deadly enemies.’

While Leo and Clive have been civil neighbours for 15 years, their behaviour is molded by the changing world around them. Words are increasingly weaponised, opinions more radical and conversations caustic, and Davies’ drama delves into the very real re-emergence of prejudice we can see today.

‘It’s my honour to combine my old home, Channel 4, with my second home, Canal Street,’ Davies said on the news, referring to his coming of age of sorts in Manchester’s gay scene. ‘This is a show I had to write because the world is getting stranger, tougher and darker, and frankly, the fight is on.’

But it’s not all dark: the famed writer will inject Tip Toe with some of the wit and deft humour he is known for.

Tip Toe is being produced by Quay Street Productions, with the company’s founder Nicola Shindler along with Russell T Davies and Peter Hoar serving as executive producers. Quay Street was founded by Shindler in 2021; before, she worked across the likes of It’s A Sin, Last Tango in Halifax, The Stranger, Happy Valley and Queer as Folk. Most recently, Quay Street has been the company behind Harlan Coben’s smash hit Netflix adaptations Fool Me Once, Missing You and the upcoming Run Away and Lazarus series.

Shindler says she is ‘so pleased to be back working with Russell at Channel 4, and to be given the chance to tell such an important story’.

‘Tip Toe is not just a timely drama, but a captivating story shot through with Russell’s brilliant wit, warmth and devastating poignancy,’ Shindler adds.

‘It is a huge privilege to back this remarkable new series from Russell, one of the greatest writers of our time, and the man behind some of our most era-defining hits, including Queer as Folk and It’s A Sin,’ says Ollie Madden, Director of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama. ‘We couldn’t love Tip Toe more: it is funny, gripping, full of heart, and an urgent call to arms. It perfectly represents what we’re about at Channel 4, and we are beyond thrilled to be working with Nicola, Russell and Peter again on this very special show.’

(Channel 4)

The Cast

Joining Cumming as Leo and Morrissey as Clive in Tip Toe is a slate of British stars you will recognise from across TV, including Denise Welch. They all met as a cast for the first time at the read-through, which Channel 4 captured in a short video. Watch it below.

The full cast we know so far is as follows:

• Alan Cumming as Leo
• David Morrissey as Clive
• Pooky Quesnel as Marie, Clive’s wife
• Jackson Connor as George, Clive’s son
• Joseph Evans as Saul, Clive’s son
• Elizabeth Berrington as Stephanie, Leo’s best friend
• Iz Hesketh as Zee
• Shakeel Kimotho as Hanna
• Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo as Judy
• Paul Rhys as Melba
• Charlie Condou as Curtis, Leo’s ex-husband
• Denise Welch as Diane

‘The best things in life are worth waiting for, and the best people,’ Cumming says. ‘Russell T Davies and I have been trying to work together for over 20 years. Now, not only are we working together but doing so with one of my dearest, oldest friends, Dave Morrissey, and in a piece of work I think is so brilliant and prescient and necessary. I don’t say this lightly, but this is truly an honour.’

Morrissey adds he is equally as ‘delighted’ to be working with Cumming, his friend for more than 40 years. Morrissey previous worked with Davies on the 2008 Doctor Who Christmas special, and says ‘it’s a privilege to be with them both on this astonishing piece of work’.

Release Date

No official news just yet, but we expect to see Tip Toe on screens in 2026.

Catch up with It’s A Sin at channel4.com