Posted in: Preview, TV | Tagged: channel 4, doctor who, russell t davies, tip toe

Tip Toe: Doctor Who's Russell T. Davies, Channel 4 Set for New Drama

Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies returns to drama with Tip Toe, a spiritual sequel to Queer as Folk but set in darker current times.

Channel 4 has commissioned Tip Toe, a new original drama 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). This will be a spiritual sequel to Queer as Folk over twenty years later, covering the contemporary LGBTQ scene as it enters darker times.

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 the truth from lies anymore.

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, and 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 that 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, is returning to Manchester and Canal Street with this vital story that speaks not just to the queer community but to the world today.

"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," Davies shared. 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." Ollie Madden, Director of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama, shared, "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.' 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."

Tip Toe was commissioned by Madden, Director of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama, and Gemma Boswell, Commissioning Editor for Drama at Channel 4. It will be produced by Quay Street Productions (part of ITV Studios), with Shindler, Davies, and Peter Hoar serving as executive producers.

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