Russell T Davies is set to return. to Channel 4 with brand new drama Tip Toe.

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. 

Now, in Tip Toe, Davies will explore the most corrosive forces facing the LGBTQ+ community today, examining the danger as prejudice creeps back into our lives. Problems we thought were long-gone are returning, toughened and weaponised, until no one knows truth from lies any more.

Channel 4 has commissioned a powerfully resonant new original drama, Tip Toe, from the multi award-winning Russell T Davies (It’s A Sin, Queer as Folk, Doctor Who), produced by Quay Street Productions (part of ITV Studios) and executive produced by Nicola Shindler (Queer as Folk, It’s A Sin, Fool Me Once). The series will be directed by Peter Hoar (It’s A Sin, The Last of Us, Nolly).

The five-part series will follow Leo and Clive who live next door to each other in Manchester. Leo runs a bar on Canal Street, Clive’s an electrician, with two teenage sons. 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 yet gripping tale that brings a spotlight to bear on the re-emergence of an incipient threat.

Twenty-five years later, the team behind the ground-breaking Queer as Folk, are returning to Manchester and Canal Street, with this vital story that speaks not just to the queer community but to the world today.

Russell T Davies, Writer and Creator, said, “It’s my honour to combine my old home, Channel 4, with my second home, Canal Street. This is a show I had to write because the world is getting stranger, tougher and darker, and frankly, the fight is on.”

Nicola Shindler, Executive Producer, said, “I am 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.”

Casting will be announced in due course.