Russell T. Davies' latest show is nearly upon us, and speaking to the cast of Tip Toe on the red carpet, HELLO! was told how the suburban thriller would be a call to arms.
Fans of It's a Sin and Years and Years can rejoice as Russell T. Davies is returning with a new drama, Tip Toe. The five-part show will be landing on Channel 4 very soon, and it follows a deadly neighbourhood feud between Leo and Clive, respectively played by Alan Cumming and David Morrissey.
Teasing the show on the red carpet at BFI Southbank, Russell told HELLO!: "Tip Toe is the story of two neighbours, Leo, who is gay and single, and Clive, who's straight and married with two sons.
"Everything's fine between them until one of them gives the other their front door key, and from that point on, it will unravel and you enter a world in which no good deed goes unpunished. The story of the rivalry and the tension between the two men is more fraught and intense, and by the end of this suburban thriller, no one is safe."
Although the show explores a dystopian present, highlighting how the internet is radicalising people, especially against the LGBTQ+ community, the idea for the drama comes from humble beginnings. "I wrote this partly because the front door key attracted me," Russell explained. "I gave my front door to a neighbour, and it's my job to consider how those things go wrong.
"As a gay man, I was very much feeling the rise of antagonism in society, accelerated by the online voice. I have a real fear for the future, and that's where the tension and the horror of Tip Toe comes from."
© James_StackSeveral of the cast members that HELLO! spoke to on the red carpet shared this fear, with lead star Alan Cumming saying it was a "bad time to be queer in this country", while Charlie Condou and Gabriel Clark, who play Leo's ex Curtis and bartender Mikey respectively, both called the show a "call to arms".
Charlie explained: "We've come so far with queer rights, and we're in a very different place from where we were 30 years ago, but I do feel like a lot of things are going backwards. I think this is a real call to arms."
© Channel 4Gabriel added: "At its heart, it's a human story. It's really tense, it's really exciting, but it's a call to arms for us all to think about what's going on in society. I really hope this show reaches out to everybody."
This was also something brought up by Shakeel Kimotho, who plays Hanna, a member of the bar staff, as she said: "I want people to humanise us, experience us, but also understand we're not experiencing one monolithic thing. I want people to experience that the most and to have those conversations after the show. Please talk about it and see what's happened, what's right and what's wrong."
Getting involved with the show
Everyone HELLO! spoke to on the red carpet revealed that they specifically wanted to get involved with the show due to Russell's writing abilities and the themes explored within the drama.
When Paul Rhys, who plays Melba, was asked why he wanted to join the cast, he said: "It's the best script that has ever been written. It's the truth, it's relevant." Throughout the course of Tip Toe, Melba has several monologues reflecting the state of the world, including one where he memorably says he used to be able to walk into a room and go "ta da", but now feels he has to "tip toe".
© James_Stack"It's the truth, and Melba has this extraordinary prophetic ability to tell it as it is and see what's going on. I was privileged to give those kinds of speeches," Paul said.
Alan added: "I've been a fan of Russell's forever. This project is so important to me in raising issues, and it's just such a great role, and a chance to work with David, but number one was to work with Russell T. Davies."
New stars on the block
One thing that Tip Toe does is bring a new raft of stars into the limelight, including the likes of Gabriel Clark, Iz Hesketh, Shakeel Kimotho, Dominic Holmes, Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo, Jackson Connor and Joseph Evans, the latter two play Clive's (David Morrissey) sons, who have a big part to play in the drama.
Speaking about landing this role, Jackson told us on the red carpet: "It feels a bit insane, to be honest! I keep saying it, but it really is a dream come true; it's been such a fantastic ride." Joseph then added: "From the moment I read the script, you realise not only is it very good, but it's so important. It feels great to be a part of something that needs to be seen."
© Ben BlackallLuyanda told us: "I think this absolutely paramount. We're getting into our silos, and there are forces that want to further divide us, and we need to galvanise together. We have so much more in common than we have different from each other. We're all trying to fight the same fight, and that's about living and loving and caring about each other."
Iz also spoke of the importance of having a "flawed" transgender character on screens, saying: "Sometimes producers are too scared to put on TV because they don't want to show us as these beautiful, perfect people, so it was important to me that my character was the epitome of well-intentioned, but a little bit clumsy."
© Channel 4Tip Toe is coming soon to Channel 4.
