Amid all the timey-wimey noise, now former showrunner of Doctor Who, Russell T. Davies, returned to form across the pond with the release of his timely psychological thriller Tip Toe. The series made its debut on Channel 4 at the end of May, with viewers instantly stunned by a selection of fine performances and the powerfully pressing subject matter. The show launched to strong numbers for Channel 4, peaking at over 1 million viewers and taking top spot during its Sunday 9 PM slot.
Following Tip Toe‘s viral success in the UK, and just eight days after the finale aired and stunned audiences, it has now been confirmed that the series is making its way to America. STARZ has officially picked up the rights to Tip Toe, with the five-part series premiering exclusively on STARZ later this year. “It’s my great delight to return to STARZ after many years,” said creator Davies in a statement, adding, “Tip Toe’s launch in the U.K. has shown that audiences are hungry for strong, bold, opinionated material – and that’s a perfect fit for STARZ!” Alison Hoffman, President, STARZ Networks, commented, “Russell T. Davies has created a gripping and deeply affecting series that speaks directly to the cultural tensions and anxieties shaping modern life.”
The series stars five-time Emmy winner Alan Cumming and Sherwood‘s David Morrissey, and also features supporting roles from the likes of Pooky Quesnel (The A Word), Jackson Connor (Phoenix Rise), Joseph Evans (The Map That Leads To You), Elizabeth Berrington (Last Night In Soho), Iz Hesketh (Renegade Nell), and Shakeel Kimotho (La Cage Aux Folles). Tip Toe has been the subject of gushing reviews from British critics so far, with Radio Times calling it “an urgent state-of-the-nation drama” and The Times saying the show is “Russell T. Davies at his crusading, passionate best.” This is certainly high praise for the man behind the likes of Years and Years and It’s a Sin. A synopsis for Tip Toe reads:
“Leo (Cumming) and Clive (Morrissey) have lived next door to each other in Manchester for almost 15 years. Leo runs Spit & Polish, a bar on Canal Street and Clive is an electrician with two teenage sons. But just as life should be settling down for both, the world around them is growing more tense. Words become weapons, opinions become radicalized and gradually the two neighbors become deadly enemies in a tense, thrilling drama that spotlights the prejudices that have started to creep back into our lives, in a story that speaks not just to the queer community, but to the world at large.”
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky
Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🏜️Paul Atreides
🖖Capt. Kirk
✊Princess Leia
🔦Ellen Ripley
🔥Max Rockatansky
01
How do you lead when the stakes couldn’t be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.
02
What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.
03
What is the thing you’d sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.
04
How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.
05
You’re facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you’re the only one who sees it defines everything.
06
What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they’d pay it again.
07
How do you feel about the rules of the world you’re in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What’s yours?
08
When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you.
Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…
Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.
Arrakis · Dune
Paul Atreides
You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you’re capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.
You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn’t ask for but can’t escape.
Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won’t, is exactly you.
USS Enterprise · Star Trek
Captain Kirk
You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you’ve always believed there’s a third option nobody else has thought of yet.
You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you’ve earned it.
Kirk’s genius isn’t tactical — it’s human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.
The Rebellion · Star Wars
Princess Leia
You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you’re fearless, but because giving up simply isn’t something you’re capable of.
You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you’ve never looked back.
Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.
The Nostromo · Alien
Ellen Ripley
You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone’s hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.
You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
Ripley’s heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn’t have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn’t there.
When it counts, you don’t flinch. That’s everything.
The Wasteland · Mad Max
Max Rockatansky
You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.
You don’t ask for help, don’t need validation, and don’t wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it’s earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.
Russell T. Davies Has Just Left ‘Doctor Who’
Tip Toe‘s move Stateside will hopefully help calm the chaos surrounding Davies at the moment, following the announcement that he and Bad Wolf have left Doctor Who. This news came following a turbulent time for the timey-wimey sci-fi favorite, after a partnership with Disney proved disastrous and Ncuti Gatwa left the show in controversial circumstances. “And so GOODBYE from me to Doctor Who but HELLO to a big new future for the show, as the BBC announces it’s putting the show out to tender. As a result, there won’t be a Christmas Special,” Davies said in a statement.
Tip Toe is coming to STARZ later this year. You can catch Davies’ most recent Doctor Who seasons on Disney+. Stay tuned to Collider for the latest updates.
Release Date
2024 – 2025-00-00
Network
BBC One
Directors
Alex Pillai, Peter Hoar, Ben Chessell, Julie Anne Robinson, Jamie Donoughue, Amanda Brotchie, Dylan Holmes Williams
