Why I can’t engage fully with Tip Toe: Russell T Davies' Most Uncomfortable Drama Yet
Over the last 30 years, Russell T Davies has created some significant television centred on the experiences of white gay men. When Queer as Folk was broadcast in 1999, I was still too early in my own journey with sexuality to fully appreciate how groundbreaking it was. Even so, I knew I had never seen two men having sex on primetime television - not even on Channel 4.
The UK in 1999 still had serious problems with homophobia; Section 28, for example, would not be repealed until 2004. Against that backdrop, Queer as Folk felt celebratory: a bold step towards visibility, recognition and acceptance.
It’s A Sin: trauma, memory and catharsis
In 2021 came It’s A Sin, a harrowing depiction of how people who acquired HIV, and later died of AIDS-related illnesses, were treated at the height of the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s. It was traumatic to watch - Colin’s story in particular - but it was also cathartic.
HIV-related stigma still exists, but the experience of being locked on a ward to die alone is, thankfully, something from the past. Healthcare, treatment and the wider landscape for people living with HIV have changed completely - not least because we now know that people with an undetectable viral load cannot pass the virus on.
Tip Toe: a present-day unease
Tip Toe goes further, widening the frame to include experiences across the LGBTQIA+ community. Set in present-day Manchester, it centres on Leo and the tension of living next door to Clive: a heterosexual man whose prejudice towards Leo, a gay man living with HIV, is always close to the surface.
The opening scene, which I will not spoil, shows us where the story is heading before rewinding to a few days earlier. From the start, it is clear we are in for a rough ride.
What makes Tip Toe feel more uncomfortable than Davies’ previous work is its immediacy. It is set now, in a society that increasingly feels hostile, and it captures LGBTQIA+ people trying to live ordinary lives alongside those who clearly disapprove of who they are.
In the first episode, Clive is not always openly discriminatory towards Leo, but his discomfort with Leo’s sexuality is clear. It appears in microaggressions: looks, snide comments and laughter. At the same time, Clive buys Leo a key safe and offers to fit it. To the outside world - and perhaps to himself - he is being a good neighbour.
As the episodes progress, the tension between Leo and Clive builds. Clive’s behaviour becomes increasingly abusive and violent, eventually leading to the act shown in the opening scene.
Why it feels harder to watch
I have noticed that I am engaging with this show very differently from Davies’ previous work. With It’s A Sin, I allowed myself to feel the sadness; as painful as it was, the experience felt cathartic. With Tip Toe, I find myself subconsciously doomscrolling, not watching or listening to every word, because it feels too real and too raw.
Most LGBT+ people have experienced some form of abuse or violence because of their gender or sexual identity. Like Leo, when he finds Clive in his house, many have minimised discriminatory incidents or avoided going to the police because acknowledging what is happening can feel overwhelming. Many have also backed down, let things go or stayed quiet - not to be the bigger person, but because it did not feel safe to defend themselves.
A wider climate of hostility
Tip Toe encapsulates attitudes we are seeing in the country today: people’s lives, relationships and identities dismissed as “woke” or framed as forms of perversion. Social media often feels full of hurtful comments, with people emboldened to question, insult and threaten violence over other people’s lives and choices.
Government statistics report a 20% rise in recorded hate crimes based on sexual orientation and a 50% increase in recorded hate crimes based on gender identity in the period 2020–2025.
In the last month, we have also seen Pride flags banned and several Pride events cancelled in areas with Reform councils. Discussion about the use of public funds is important and should continue, but when only Pride events are affected, it suggests something more targeted may be happening.
The line that stays with me
I have yet to finish Tip Toe, but the words of Melba Toast in episode 1 have stayed with me:
“If you’d asked me in 1996, what do you think 2026 will be like, I’d have said ‘glory days’… but they tricked us, didn’t they? ... we’re standing in the open, ready for them to shoot us down ... I used to walk into a room and just go Ta-da! Now I tip toe, just in case.”
This is television that feels painfully real. For that reason, I can only give it half of my attention.
Article written by James Mead, Service Development Lead with The Eddystone Trust