Russell T Davies to bring new LGBTQ+ drama t TV screens

Russell T Davies will be bringing a new LGBTQ+ drama to TV screens following the success of It’s A Sin.

The five-part Channel 4 series, Tip Toe, follows electrician Clive, who has two teenage sons, and Leo, who runs a bar on Canal Street in Manchester.

“This is a show I had to write because the world is getting stranger, tougher and darker, and frankly, the fight is on,” said Davies.

It follows the success of award-winning series It’s A Sin, which aired in 2021 and told the story of a group of young friends living in London during the HIV/Aids crisis in the 1980s.

Davies, 61, initially gained recognition for his Channel 4 series Queer As Folk, which first aired in 1999.

In 2023, he told BBC Wales he wanted to write a darker LGBTQ+ drama as he felt there was “a lot of hatred in the air”.

“A lot of nonsense in the air, a lot of rhetoric, and a lot of hate-makers stoking up the fires, and I have things to say about that, so I’d be surprised if I don’t say something about that,” he said.

Nicola Shindler, executive producer of Tip Toe, said: “I am so pleased to be back working with Russell… and to be given the chance to tell such an important story.”

She added it was “not just a timely drama, but a captivating story” which showcased “Russell’s brilliant wit, warmth and devastating poignancy”.

Casting for the show will be announced in due course.

The series will be produced by Quay Street Productions, which is part of ITV Studios, with Shindler, Davies and Peter Hoar as executive producers.