Review: Alan Cumming Stars in Russell T Davies’ Harrowing Miniseries ‘Tip Toe’

Premiering on Starz on October 2, the British miniseries Tip Toe establishes its grim stakes immediately. In the opening scene, Alan Cumming’s character, Leo Struthers, is shown hanging dead from a lamppost outside his Manchester home. Each subsequent episode opens with reminders of this tragedy before flashing back to the ten-day period during which tensions with his neighbor, Clive Goss (played by David Morrissey), escalated to the breaking point.

Creator Russell T Davies, known for Queer as Folk and Doctor Who, delivers what the review describes as a harrowing melodrama about masculinity in crisis and the potential reversal of queer liberation. While the script occasionally relies on heavy-handed dialogue and a finale that tests credibility, the series functions as a passionate critique of contemporary social conditions.

Both men are in their late fifties and have shared a wall in identical rowhouses for 14 years, but their lives are currently unraveling. Clive, an electrician, struggles to support his family, which includes a teenage son, George, and a grown son, Saul, who helps him work but cannot afford to move out. Clive’s wife, Marie, subjects him to constant criticism amidst rumors of his infidelity. Meanwhile, Leo’s long-term partner, Curtis, has left him for a woman. Leo, who manages the gay nightlife bar Spit & Polish with Curtis, has become overly dependent on his best friend, Stephanie, and is facing financial and emotional turmoil.

The conflict intensifies after an incident where Leo, locked out of his house in his underwear following a hookup, is reluctantly let in by Clive. Clive expresses disgust at Leo’s lifestyle and discomfort with his presence around his sons. However, the narrative reveals that Clive’s children are not as innocent as he believes. Things worsen when Leo hires Clive and Saul for electrical work at the bar, leading to uncomfortable revelations and a montage highlighting the parallel secret lives and shared loneliness of the neighbors.

Cumming portrays Leo as a complex protagonist—charming and kind, yet pugnacious and self-centered. The bar serves as a hub for Leo’s interactions with the queer and trans community, including a trans bartender named Zee who faces daily violence. Through these relationships, the series examines whether the visibility won by earlier generations of LGBTQ people has made them easier targets.

Davies appears to be completing a thematic trilogy, following It’s a Sin and Years & Years, by combining anxieties surrounding homophobia, economic hardship, and social media surveillance into a unified warning. Morrissey’s portrayal of Clive offers a stark contrast, depicting straight masculinity in crisis as he retreats into conspiracy theories and violent imagery.

The review notes that while the show shares its setting with the earlier Queer as Folk, the tone reflects a significantly darker worldview. The series draws comparisons to other recent works that distill political fault lines into personal conflicts, though Tip Toe eschews black comedy for unblinking earnestness. Despite some narrative flaws, the review concludes that Davies’ clear anger and fear give the series a powerful emotional truth that transcends its plot shortcomings.