Is Tip Toe based on a true story? If Leo Struthers is a real person and the 'honest' inspiration for Channel 4's dark drama
'I think we're sliding into hell'
Tip Toe, Russell T Davies’ new Channel 4 drama about two neighbours in a spiralling feud, goes to shocking extremes – but is it based on a true story?
The series revolves around Leo (Alan Cumming), a queer man who manages a bar in Manchester’s Gay Village, and Clive (David Morrissey), his bigoted, far-right next-door neighbour. At best, they’re civil. At worst, every interaction is fuelled by not-so-passive aggression.
On paper, it sounds a bit like Netflix’s Beef. It is, in a way, with Leo and Clive’s rivalry barrelling towards an inevitable, harrowing breaking point.
Given Davies’ work on shows like It’s a Sin, a drama about the HIV/AIDS crisis in the ’80s, you’re probably curious if Tip Toe is based on a real-life story. The answer is… quite depressing.
Is Tip Toe based on a true story?
Tip Toe isn’t based on a true story, nor are Cumming’s Leo Struthers or Morrissey’s Clive Goss real-life people.
However, that doesn’t mean the show is a complete “fantasy”. According to Davies, it’s a response to the endemic intolerance, prejudice, and anger that’s become all too prevalent.
“In my heart I have got my reaction to the way the world is going. It’s not simply politics, it’s everything, everyone, everywhere,” he told Channel 4.
“Our intolerance, our temper, our shortness, our anger. It’s just rising and rising, undoubtedly because of the way we are communicating, which is in these short bursts of indelible text.
Don't miss a single story! Add us as a Preferred Source in Google for all your television news
“We didn’t evolve to communicate this way. It’s a whiplash world, somehow it all leads to trouble and the LGBTQIA+ community always seem to end up as the ones to blame. You can guarantee that whenever there’s an election, wherever it is, we will pop up and become a front-line issue.”
Tip Toe wades into Brexit, the trans debate, and more
In Tip Toe, it’s clear that Clive is immensely resentful of the way the world has evolved, despite his best intentions. For example, he voted for Brexit, a decision that continues to have enormous, crippling effects on the UK economy.
He says he’s not racist, but doesn’t hesitate to make problematic remarks. He’s a blatant homophobe, but that could be a consequence of his own insecurities; all of his emotions are repressed or manipulated to hide how he really feels.
“To a character like Clive, how could Brexit not matter?” Peter Hoar, director and executive producer on the series, told Channel 4.
“He has been led along a path, promised all sorts of things, treated with a lack of respect and has been buried under it.”
‘We are on a road towards terror’
In Davies’ eyes, the “public nature” of what happens in Tip Toe – no spoilers! – is “where we are heading”.
“We are living in a Britain now where some people, some politicians even, will happily talk about the burning down of hotels with migrants in them,” he told Channel 4.
“When a woman is imprisoned for encouraging that act, she becomes a folk hero. So, all steps are on this road. This is not a fantasy. You can see the steps we are taking to get there. We are on a road towards terror.”
In another interview with BBC Radio 4, Davies warned that “online rage” is transferring into the real world.
“I have spent a long time debating with myself whether the online world is making people worse in their opinions, or is the online world revealing what we always actually thought, which is a lot more terrifying,” he said.
“I think we’re sliding into hell.”
Read more: The best movies you can watch for free on Channel 4 now
