'I actually can’t sleep’: Tip Toe viewers left ‘sick and traumatised’ as Channel 4 releases ‘horrific’ finale early on streaming
'I'm genuinely in tears'
Tip Toe is now available to stream in its entirety on Channel 4, and those who’ve watched the finale have been left “traumatised”.
The new drama, created by Russell T Davies, revolves around two neighbours, Leo (Alan Cumming) and Clive (David Morrissey). Leo is an outgoing, proud queer man who runs a bar in Manchester’s Gay Village, while Clive is a bitter, insecure bigot.
The first episode opened on a jaw-dropping scene: Cumming’s character hanging from a lamppost, scored by shrieks of horror from beneath him.
The series chronicles everything that happens in the days leading up to this tragic, horrifying moment. And, if you’re brave enough, you can watch the ending of Tip Toe on Channel 4’s website and app.
***Warning: spoilers for Tip Toe ahead***
Tip Toe ending leaves viewers ‘in tears’
In the final stretch of Tip Toe’s last episode, Clive – enraged by his son’s sexuality, his other son’s OnlyFans account, and Leo’s mere existence – orders his football friends to “string up” Leo.
More specifically, they use cable to hoist and hang him from a lamppost outside his house. Clive also catches sight of Zee (Iz Hesketh), Leo’s trans colleague, but she manages to get back inside safely before the group can hurt her.
It’s a full-on lynching, and after all the boys run away, the episode lingers on the gut-wrenching aftermath, with characters like Stephanie (Elizabeth Berrington) and Marie (Pooky Quesnel) weeping and screaming in shock and grief.
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In our review of Tip Toe, we warned that it was “the most distressing episode of television” our writer had ever watched. It looks like other people agree.
“I’m genuinely in tears,” one viewer wrote on X. “those final 10 minutes absolutely wrecked me. Even though you knew what was coming, it was horrifying to watch,” another wrote.
On Reddit, one viewer commented: “I am shocked, it is amazing, traumatic and mentally scarring… this show is still amazing, though mentally and emotionally challenging to almost breaking point for me.”
“I have no idea how I’ll be able to unwind enough to sleep tonight,” another wrote.
“It made me feel so anxious and nauseous,” a third Redditor commented. “Very dark and very believable something like that could happen. Insane television,” a fourth added.
Tip Toe stars say finale is a ‘wake-up call’
Speaking to Radio Times, Cumming was bleakly candid in his assessment of the Tip Toe finale: “It completely could happen.
“This is about forcing people to reckon with where we are… and hopefully start to change that. And it has to come from our leaders, they need to speak out more, and say, ‘No, this is wrong, this is disgusting, we’re not going to countenance it.'”
As for Davies, in his eyes, “the actual event of this, the public nature of this 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.”
