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Tip Toe: Alan Cumming, David Morrissey Leading Russell T Davies Series

Channel 4 announced that Alan Cumming and David Morrissey are set as mortal enemies in Russell T Davies' upcoming new drama Tip Toe.

Published Thu, 04 Sep 2025 14:37:03 -0500

by Adi Tantimedh

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Article Summary

Alan Cumming and David Morrissey lead Russell T Davies’ new Channel 4 suburban thriller Tip Toe.
Tip Toe centers on two longtime neighbors whose tensions escalate into a gripping and deadly rivalry.
The five-part drama explores radicalization and resurging prejudice in a sharply observed modern setting.
Russell T Davies collaborates with Quay Street Productions; Peter Hoar directs and Phil Collinson produces.

As filming begins on Tip Toe, multi-BAFTA-winning writer Russell T Davies' new drama for Channel 4, Alan Cumming and David Morrissey have been announced as cast leads for the series. Yes, this is what he's doing while Doctor Who is on hiatus. Cumming will play Leo, vivid, funny and dynamic; he's the owner of a bar called Spit & Polish in Manchester's Gay Village. Morrissey will play Clive, Leo's unsmiling and troubled next-door neighbour. Things will not go well because these are dark times.

The five-part Tip Toe will follow 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.

Tip Toe: Alan Cumming and David Morrissey in Russell T Davies Series — Channel 4

Cumming shared, "The best things in life are worth waiting for, and the best people. 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 added, "I'm delighted to be working with Russell again, and also to be working with Alan, who has been a great friend of mine for over 40 years, but we've never had the chance to work together. It's a privilege to be with them both on this astonishing piece of work"

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.

Tip Toe will be produced by Quay Street Productions (part of ITV Studios), with Nicola Shindler, Russell T Davies, Peter Hoar, and Alan Cumming serving as executive producers. Doctor Who veteran Phil Collinson will produce the series, which will be directed by Peter Hoar and cast by Andy Pryor. Gemma Boswell is the Commissioning Editor at Channel 4. Tip Toe is produced in association with ITV Studios, which will distribute the show internationally.

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