Russell T. Davies, Alan Cumming and David Morrissey talk about making the brand new limited series
BY NIC CROSARA, IMAGE BY CHANNEL 4
From it’s very opening scene, Russell T. Davies new suburban thriller is a haunting viewing experience. Like all of the best storytelling, it will leave the viewer changed long after the final credits. The story opens with screams sounding out across the rooftops of Manchester. A man, Leo (Alan Cumming), is hanging dead from a lamp post. Below his dead body is his neighbour Clive (David Morrissey) with a disturbing look across his face. Across five episodes, the mini series explores the events that led up to this devastating scene.
This show tackles many things from the alarming rise of homophobia and transphobia to community in-fighting and anti-immigration. It’s unflinching, shocking and devastatingly grounded in reality. I anticipate that it will open up many dialogues in people’s homes, both inside and outside of the LGBTQIA+ community. When I got the chance to speak to Alan ahead of the show’s release, I was curious to find out what conversations he wanted the series to open up. “I hope that people will be jolted and agree that we need to draw a line in the sand about the way that hateful rhetoric and violence are unchecked and condoned. And we need to get back some sort of decency, kindness and respect in our culture. That’s what I would hope would happen because of this,” he told me.
Both Alan and David deliver gripping performances as they share a screen, their characters’ relationship is full of tension and unpredictability. David opened up to me about their decades-long friendship and how it impacted filming: “Alan and I have been friends for 40 years. In fact, we were neighbours. I think that’s obviously helped a little bit in what we’ve had to do with each other on this show. I love him dearly. He’s a wonderful, wonderful person, as we can see in everything he does. This performance is something that is really going to blow people away.”
Both Alan and David were also full of praise and admiration for their younger co-stars such as Iz Hesketh, Jackson Connor, Joseph Evans and Shakeel Kimotho. While this is a show that explores heavy topics, it was great to see these actors given the opportunity to provide some much needed queer and trans joy to the screen amid it all. Even in the darkest of times, community can offer queer and trans folks liberation and joy, after all.
When Russell’s Years And Years came out in 2019 on the BBC, it made viewers uncomfortable with how the near-future dystopian hit close to home. Many of Russell’s predictions came true. In Tip Toe, Russell once again delivers a story that feels urgent, timely and disturbing. It’s evident from the way that Tip Toe opens that it’s not going to have a happy ending. When Russell was working on Years And Years, the BBC required the ending to be uplifting and hopeful. I asked the award-winning writer what type of ending he prefers creating. “I think Tip Toe is a more realistic ending. [I understood the BBC’s argument for Years And Years]. No one forced me into writing something I didn’t want to write. I also believe in happier endings. I think we’re capable of anything and taking any direction. We are full of love and compassion and kindness. I don’t think it was an unrealistic ending,” Russell told me. “Nonetheless, on Channel 4, with a drama like this, I think this is more likely to happen. I think we’re in a world in which people were trying to burn down hotels for migrants. People in our world, in our society, were literally trying to burn down places with people inside them. And, well, we all sit back as the genocide occurs thousands of miles away. So I literally think this is on its way.”
This brand new suburban thriller has an urgent message. It’s a striking wake-up call and it’s one of Russell’s boldest and most impactful projects to date.
Tip Toe is available to watch on Channel 4. You can view the trailer below
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