Russell T Davies's much-anticipated new drama Tip Toe finally gets air date confirmed

The air date for Russell T Davies’s much-anticipated new drama Tip Toe has finally been confirmed… and it’s coming much sooner than you’d think.

Starring Alan Cumming and David Morrissey as warring neighbours, Tip Toe heralds Davies’s return to Channel 4, following 2021’s BAFTA-nominated It’s A Sin, and his first original work since returning to helm Doctor Who as showrunner in 2023. Tip Toe functions as something of an It’s A Sin reunion for Davies with the mini-series’ producer, Nicola Shindler, and its director, Peter Hoar.

Now, it’s been confirmed that the five-part series will officially launch in May 2026, and will broadcast on Channel 4 and be available to stream via Channel 4 on demand.

The first two episodes of Tip Toe will air Sunday 31 May and Monday 1 June at 9pm on Channel 4, and become available to stream on the night of 31 May.

The final three episodes will follow on Sunday 7, Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 June at the same time, and became available to stream on the night of 7 June.

Precise details for Tip Toe’s plot are unknown at present, but we do know that it will centre on Cumming’s character Leo, a bar owner in Manchester’s gay district of Canal Street, who gets embroiled in a feud with his long-standing neighbour Clive, played by David Morrissey. The two have lived next door to each for a decade, always getting along, but then something major shifts, changing their relationship forever.

The series has been written by Davies as an exploration of the rise of homophobic rhetoric in society in the last few years, and how easy it is for people’s opinions to be radicalised on issues such as homophobia and transphobia. Given how It’s A Sin explored the intricacies of how wide-spread homophobia in British society contributed to public and private opinions of the AIDs crisis, Tip Toe looks to give credence to how, even in 2026, this same type of homophobia hasn’t gone away, yet simply evolved into another form.

The synopsis for Tip Toe reads: “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 which challenges everything we consider to be safe.

“The series, populated with a cast of vibrant characters and underscored with Davies’s trademark wit and deft humour, is an urgent tale that brings a spotlight to bear on the prejudices which are creeping back into our lives.”

Tip Toe, which has been called “astonishing,” also acts as a reunion for Davies and its two lead stars. Cumming was featured in the most recent season of Doctor Who as the voice of the villainous God of Light, Lux, while Morrissey starred alongside David Tennant in the 2008 Christmas special, The Next Doctor.

A recent first look at the series included a tense stand-off between Cumming and Morrissey’s characters in a house passageway. The cast for Tip Toe also includes Pooky Quesnel (Moonflower Murders) as Clive’s wife Marie and Elizabeth Berrington (Frauds) as Leo’s best friend Stephanie. The ensemble cast is rounded out by Charlie Condou (Emmerdale) and Denise Welch (Waterloo Road).

Tip Toe will not be the last we see from Davies this year, either. The acclaimed writer is expected to pen the upcoming Christmas special of Doctor Who, which will seek to answer the (many) questions fans have after witnessing Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor mysteriously regenerated into a character played by Billie Piper, who rose to fame as the Ninth and Tenth Doctor’s companion Rose Tyler.

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Tip Toe launches on Channel 4 and Channel 4 On Demand on Sunday 31 May 2026.

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