TIP TOE - sun/mon ch4 9pm - TV PACE NO SPOILERS

[Blondeshavemorefun]

Episodes 1 and 2 will air on Sunday, May 31 and Monday, June 1. The rest of the series continues next week on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays.

The story follows two next-door neighbors in Manchester over the course of an escalating neighborhood dispute:
• Leo (Alan Cumming): A gay man who runs a bar on the famous Canal Street in Manchester's Gay Village.
• Clive (David Morrissey): An electrician with two teenage sons who harbors underlying prejudices.

The situation spirals out of control when Leo locks himself out of his house and has to ask his neighbor for a spare key.

This single event triggers a collision of worlds, unearthing mistrust and bigotry, which is further complicated when Leo strikes up a friendship with one of Clive's sons—who happens to be secretly gay.

The five-part drama will follow Leo and Clive who live next door to each other in Manchester. Leo runs a bar on Canal Street, while Clive is an electrician, with two teenage sons. But just as life should be settling down, the world around them is growing more tense.

According to the official synopsis, "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."

•	Alan Cumming as Leo
•	David Morrissey as Clive
•	Pooky Quesnel as Marie, Clive’s wife
•	Jackson Connor as George, Clive’s son
•	Joseph Evans as Saul, Clive’s son
•	Elizabeth Berrington as Stephanie, Leo’s best friend
•	Iz Hesketh as Zee
•	Shakeel Kimotho as Hanna
•	Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo as Judy
•	Paul Rhys as Melba
•	Charlie Condou as Curtis, Leo’s ex-husband
•	Denise Welch as Diane

Such a horrible and mean spirited attitude.

My friend didn't mean he was worried about finding someone else. He meant he was worried about what neighbours would think about a single, old gay man living next door. As if they'd assume there was something wrong with him.

He literally looks like a child though and the comments RTD got online were in relation to that. It’s a vast age gap and a vast disparity of power between a rich, successful tv writer and a young aspiring model.

I found the constant older male gaze on the young men in the show with their tops off every five minutes really icky.

I also thought Co-opting a method of murder so intrinsically tied to racism was a poor choice and extremely upsetting to members of the black community.

It also felt off to write a show about a white gay man facing extreme hate and male violence when I can think of three groups genuinely at way more risk from male violence every day - 1) women, 2) trans women 3) people of colour.

I think the whole show was extremely ill thought through, especially the final episode.

But he is a white gay man so it's natural that that is what he feels most equipped to write about.

Why did they show that flash of Clive as a teenager in a band?
I thought it might be leading to him having been sexually abused which led to his hatred

I thought about re-watching that bit in case i missed anything. The choice of song, written by a gay man, was deliberate to make us wonder about his sexuality, I think. And maybe it was just to show he was young and hopeful and happy once but something went wrong?

A really insightful post and I agree with points about the historical context of lynchings and the ongoing threat of male violence to other groups. Several women, for example, die at the hands of men almost every week.

To be fair Amy huge age gap is rare /unusual and people will comment whether male /female/gay

35yrs is a lot

I think the themes of the programme can be attached to any group who could be a target for this kind of hate. The whipping up of hate, the dehumanising, the repulsion towards people who aren't like you. This was even laid out in the drama by the Steph character who kept reflecting back to Leo the way women are treated. The role of social media could also be applied to so many situations.
Look at the situation in Belfast at the moment - people have been helping their immigrant neighbours escape from their homes to safety. As a PP said, RTD is writing what he knows, but actually it's a comment on how intolerant society has become, on how toxic masculinity has contributed to this, alongside the perceived threat of the "other". Just because other groups are also victims of male violence it doesn't mean a programme like this shouldn't be shown. We, as women, as victims of the patriarchy, should stand with others who suffer at the hands of male violence, not tell them to move aside and keep their mouths shut.

I have started re watching Queer as Folk,what a blast from the past, absolutely brilliant. First episode looked really dated but now I'm completely hooked all over again.

RTD continues to be a complete hack, I see.

Every time I think he's plumbed the depths of fevered melodrama, he finds a way to surprise me. Does no-one ever pull him up on this stuff? Some of his choices are in such obvious bad taste it amazes me they make it to filming. Does no-one think to say "Er, so . . . are you sure lynching is what you want to go with, Russell?"

You'd think the much younger boyfriend might clue him in.

The Clive / band Buzzcocks song flashback thing I took as a poke at the people who were young punks then and now they've turned into punch down right-wing twerps who worship billionaires like Johnny Rotten has.
If you support Trump you are part of the reason LGTBQ people kill themselves. That includes YOU 'Johnny Rotten'.

There's a lot of whataboutery on here, but RTD was writing about the world he knows. And it was very well written and astonishingly acted, I was gripped from start to harrowing finish. Leo's slippers falling off was such a poignant detail. Could it happen? We can only hope not.

But if the writer of this was a 62 year old female with an 27 year old partner, she wouldn’t be getting verbally abused, or nowhere near as much. People conflating homosexuality and paedophilia has been going on for a long time.

Maybe RTD is spending too much of his life online which is why he thinks in extremes. I loved his previous work but this did not work for me.

I agree with a lot of the criticisms from PPs, I found the whole thing over-egged, with characters continually doing foolish things and inflaming the drama.

I do think Clive was a closeted homosexual. That is why he was so furious all the time, and yet so curious - why did he spend so long reading/watch the content on Leo's computer, and leap to the defence of the teacher in the club. It had American Beauty vibes from the first episode (closeted gay man kills his neighbour because he'd rather be known as a murderer than gay).

I found the constant older male gaze on the young men in the show with their tops off every five minutes really icky.

But that's men isn't it? it is definitely not unique to gay men fgs so why are they the only ones getting labelled paedos for having younger looking partners and ogling at youthful attractive bodies?

It also felt off to write a show about a white gay man facing extreme hate and male violence when I can think of three groups genuinely at way more risk from male violence every day - 1) women, 2) trans women 3) people of colour.
That's what he knows and chose to write about, do you whatabout when other dramas depict other areas of violence? (He did bring in trans women btw, it was George in makeup that triggered Clive the most) and maybe look at stats on violent assualts, homophobic attacks are on the increaes everywhere, which is the point of the show

People conflating homosexuality and paedophilia has been going on for a long time.

Yes this, my gay cousin was a primary school teacher in a small village, he did not feel he could come out in that community with his profession because he was terrified people would label him a paedo. He moved away to a bigger town where he felt more anonomous, even still he gets the odd comment about him being gay and teaching children, he is considering leaving the profession altogether because he feels constantly judged. It would be such a loss because he is a wonderful teacher. It is depressing to think this is someones reality in 2026

True but it’s still a massive age gap and any 27yr woman saying a 62 man would be labelled as a gold digger /with her sugar daddy etc

That’s how I feel

but yes the slippers dropping

Actually, a 62 year old woman dating a 27 year old man would be the subject of a great deal of interest, a lot of it probably abusive.

A little, but not as much. Look at Madonna. And I don’t recall her ever being called a paedophile for dating her current partner (37 year gap).

Tony Robinson. And Nick Knowles both with women half their age. I’ve seen no adverse comments.

I thought Melba’s comment of “He’s legal” was a sideswipe at the attitude that the media used to be very open about, and that certainly lives on in people’s minds. Think of the Page 3-type papers that did countdowns to girls’ 16th birthdays (Charlotte Church was one example; topical case, David Sullivan’s Sport papers). So all fine from a Clive-type perspective when it’s “manly” blokes letching after underage girls; all disgusting and perverted when it’s gays.

Same! Nathan was 15

15!!! he was a school boy. Hard to believe that would be a storyline nowadays

Queer AF was shocking and exciting in 1999

a bit dull now. Nothing much happened. Other than the sex