My Review of Tip Toe: "Episode 5"

 

Written by Russell T. Davies

Directed by Peter Hoar 

Leo (to Stephanie): "I think something bigger is coming."

I was dreading watching this episode and for good reason. I knew it was the one where Leo was going to die and I knew that it was going to be Clive's fault and make no mistake here, it's 100% Clive's fault. Not Leo's and not Zee's as I've seen some online say.

Yes, it was a bad idea for Leo to step into Clive's house when tensions were still there and there were inebriated football hooligans in the mix. Zee's heart was in the right place but she shouldn't have pressured Leo to go into that house.

Again, the blame solely should be on Clive and those hooligans, including the absolutely deplorable Roddy. The latter outed George to everyone, outed Saul as a sex worker and even tried to humiliate Clive for the latter helping Regime. Roddy instigated everything and brought out the absolute worst in Clive.

Prior to Leo's death, there was a point exchange between him and Stephanie. The latter pointed out Leo's habit of treating others like they're idiots and she wasn't entirely wrong. Leo overestimated Clive and those hooligans and everything went to shit so badly.

I had to turn away when the actual murder took place itself. I've seen enough depictions like that in movies and television but this was certainly brutal to watch. The hate from Clive, Roddy and those lads. The horror in Leo's final moments. The devastation that Saul, Zee and Stephanie had. Even Marie, George and that neighbour's reaction as well. That moment floored me.

I will say that RTD's angrier political leanings were handled brilliantly with this show. He's not wrong about the growing sentiment of homophobia, transphobia and so on and even that final flashback with Leo and Stephanie reinforced what Melba has said in the first episode.

- Clive and Roddy got life sentences, the other lads got shorter sentences. Marie moved away with Saul and George.

- Saul eventually married and had three kids while George got hooked on drugs. Zee became a teacher and named herself Sarah.

- Curtis sold Spit & Polish, which became a pizzeria while Stephanie travelled and Melba was grief stricken by Leo's death.

- We didn't find out what happened to Mikey, Hanna and Judy and we didn't get to see their reactions to Leo's death.

- Standout music: M83's Solitude.

- Chronology: The day of Leo's death along with the flashback being set two years beforehand.

What an incredible finale. Absolutely devastating piece of television with utterly sublime performances from everyone involved. Give it all the awards.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Tip Toe: "Episode 4"

 

Written by Russell T. Davies

Directed by Peter Hoar 

Leo (to Clive): "If I have to live next door to you, I am scared. If that's what you think of me, I am so scared. You ... You terrify me."

That overwhelming sense of dread I've been feeling with this show. Not helped with that opening scene with a terrified Leo, Stephanie and Zee/Flo trying to protect themselves from a bunch of football louts before thr inevitable happened.

Going back to recent events though, there was the issue of Clive being in Leo's house and wanting answers about both George and Saul but mainly the former. It took Clive almost an eternity to realise that Leo had done nothing inappropriate towards George and even then, Clive still had that trace of doubt in his mind.

I loved watching Leo challenge Clive's idiotic prejudices at every turn throughout the episode. I especially Leo berating Clive for making him and every gay man having to tip toe around straight men. Once again, there was moments where it felt like Clive could've maybe had his mind opened.

He listened to Leo's story about how gay men can't change back to being straight and the gay lads who took their own lives during COVID. Clive being a denier of that and HIV wasn't a shock to me but I loved Leo raking him over the coals for it. It felt like he was almost getting through to Clive.

Clive didn't blow up on George for being gay or Saul webcamming. He even went to Spit & Polish to try and understand the gay world. He even stepped up to defend Regime/Martin after the latter was attacked. Leo's many outbursts even seemed to get through to him. Then that one social media message likely set everything back.

It was risky of Zee/Flo to contact George the way she did but the upside was the latter getting to interact with queer people closer to his own age and getting a chance to be himself. George even got to help Zee in picking a name for herself. She chose Flo by the way. It's just too bad that Beryl sent that image when she did. That was such a misguided thing for her to do.

- I liked that Saul doesn't care that Mikey shamelessly flirts with him. It was kind of sweet that he invited Mikey to hang out with his friends.

- Both Judy and Stephanie warned Leo to move house. Leo didn't listen to them. We also met Stephanie's daughter.

- Leo talked about meeting Curtis when he was 44. I hated that Clive tried to use Curtis to make a point to Leo.

- Clive almost got off to one of Regime's videos before stopping himself. Marie spotted the word "Flo" on George's back.

- Standout music: Madison Beer's yes baby and Livin' Joy's Dreamer.

- Chronology: A day before the events of that scene and then the day itself.

This was one hell of a penultimate episode and I'm almost hesitant to watch the finale, knowing what's going to happen to Leo. Saying that, I got to see this one through.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Tip Toe: "Episode 3"

 

Written by Russell T. Davies

Directed by Peter Hoar 

Clive (to police officers): "This isn't a murder, it's an execution."

Opening with a line as chilling as that certainly put Clive under a more intense spotlight. Leo died and Clive surrendered himself to the police while showing no remorse for his neighbour's death. This episode really was David Morrissey's from start to finish.

I went through various emotions watching Clive in this one. There was a flashback to his teenage years in a garage band showing that Clive had creative aspirations at one point in his life. Then the episode moved back into recent events.

It turned out that Clive bullied a former co-worker and made himself unemployable on a site. Clive's way of dealing with that was needlessly vindictive. That was one of a few things that made me dislike him throughout the episode.

Back in the first episode, we learned that Clive cheated on Marie with a woman named Patricia. This episode revealed that he never did when he almost cheated on Marie with a woman named Diane (Denise Welch). Diane seemed to share similar world views to Clive but ultimately she has the sense not to go there with him.

Clive and Marie's miserable state of limbo led to some great scenes in the episode but once things circled back to Clive and Leo catching George in Leo's house, we saw a rather ugly side to Marie. The way she spoke about Leo was genuinely sickening, even when George clarified that Leo did nothing to him. Marie was just as bad as Clive, maybe a tiny bit worse.

Things came to a head in the worst possible way. If ever there was a good case to delete your group chats, this episode demonstrated it. Not only did Clive find the texts between Leo and George (along with that voice note) but snooping on the Spit & Polish group chat, he's also aware of Saul's OnlyFans activities. That last scene between Leo and Clive left me with a sense of dread.

- I thought Stephanie might have been dead with Leo but Zee was comforting her at the start of the episode.

- I did find it daft that everyone assumed Leo called them "perverts" when he was right there. It took them a bit to realise the obvious.

- Mikey is cute but it was really stupid of him to post Saul's video to the group chat. Saul did have sex with a woman in one of his videos.

- Stephanie made some sensible points during her scenes with Leo, Melba, Zee, Mikey and Hanna. 

- Standout music: Buzzcocks Ever Fallen In Love.

- Chronology: 43 years in Clive's past and then picking up from the previous episode cliffhanger.

The third episode was certainly tense as fuck during those final ten minutes. I could feel the dread throughout with the more time Clive spent in Leo's house. This was definitely David Morrissey's episode and I had so many conflicting feelings for Clive.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Tip Toe: "Episode 2"

 

Written by Russell T. Davies

Directed by Peter Hoar

Leo (to George): "Because I promise you, George. There's a great big gay life just waiting for you."

Optics are certainly a thing because after both Leo and George spotting each on the same cruising app, I didn't know how this show was going to address that particular conundrum. I do think Leo was skirting a line here.

On one hand, I like the fact that Leo did try to give George some reassurance that things can get better being an out gay man while also encouraging him to seek out peers to talk to. I get that his family are a no go, but I'm surprised that George doesn't have people closer to his age that he can confide in. 

Leo was in danger of incurring Clive's wrath over both of his sons. Not only was it quickly revealed that George was the one breaking into Leo's house and moving things around but this episode ended with both Leo and Clive catching George barely dressed in Leo's house. Leo was as shocked as Clive was, not that the latter will see it that way.

Then there's Saul. He was helping Clive with the electrics at Spit & Polish and it took little for all of the staff to treat Saul like a snack. Saul might have seen the funny side of it but Clive clearly didn't and I'll admit that even Melba might have gone too far. It did seem like Melba was going out of his way to intentionally antagonise Clive.

Don't get me wrong - Clive's homophobia kept rearing it's ugly head at different points and I absolutely didn't blame Leo for calling Clive out in front of the latter's mates. Clive was definitely being disrespectful throughout the episode and I know it's going to get a lot worse.

The first episode mentioned the infamous Curtis and this episode had the former and his girlfriend, Maggie (Clare Calbraith) talk of fostering kids. I know the skepticism that Leo and Stephanie displayed with that news might have been a tad mean spirited but I agreed with them. Curtis and Maggie are clearly going ahead with fostering for the wrong reasons.

- The episode opened with George in a messy room casually eating while Leo was dead outside. There was something chilling about that scene.

- Both Saul (HotSaul) and Mikey (ManchesterMikey) are on OnlyFans. Mikey makes more money than Saul and wanted to do a collaboration with him.

- I loved the mix of characters Leo interacted with during that meeting. The Irish lesbian bar owner in particular was hilarious.

- Both Zee and Hanna tried to talk to Clive about the meaning behind their names and Mikey's father left the family in debt.

- Standout music: Billie Eilish's i love you.

- Chronology: Six days prior to Leo's death.

The second episode was a bit better than the first one. The emotions going from funny to heartfelt to that impending sense of dread. RTD really has struck gold with this one. This show proves he's still got it.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Tip Toe: "Episode 1"

 

Written by Russell T. Davies

Directed by Peter Hoar

Melba (to Leo): "I used to walk into a room and go "Ta Daa". Now I tip toe, just in case."

Now, this is the Russell T. Davies we know and love. If there's a project that best suited his feelings on the current political climate, it's this show. The first scene alone didn't hold back with delivering a shocker.

While I suspected that lead character Leo Struthers (Alan Cumming) might have been a goner, I didn't think the first scene would be him hanging from a lamppost with neighbour Clive Goss (David Morrissey) appearing responsible for the death itself. Of course we had to go backwards from that moment.

Yup, the animosity between Leo and Clive stemmed from the former having a one night stand with a man named Eddie (Andrew Moss). Eddie also stole Leo's laptop and a barely clothed Leo locked himself out of his own house, forcing Clive to show some hospitality. Clive repaid it with some passive aggressive bullshit with a safe key box and thinly veiled homophobia.

While Clive almost seemed to derive a childish pleasure in being critical of Leo's lifestyle and lack of a relationship, his own home life wasn't anything to write about. Clive was constantly cheating on his fed up wife, Marie (Pooky Quesnel) and his sons Saul (Joseph Evans) and George (Jackson Connor) also had their own secret lives that Clive definitely wouldn't approve of.

There's a lot of talk of homophobia and transphobia being on the rise. Some of it had Leo attempting to downplay it until he got something of a wake up call from his friend, Melba (Paul Rhys) and trans employee Zee (Iz Hesketh). You can argue that it's not delivered in a subtle way but perhaps that's the point.

Leo's bar staff are an interesting enough bunch. Zee had to get out of a house of abusive roommates but I found Judy (Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo) and Hanna (Shakeel Kimotho) a little more interesting. There's bar staff lads in both Mikey (Gabriel Clark) and Freddie (Jolyon Benson). The former didn't get much to do but the latter knew his employment rights, which didn't please Leo in the slightest.

Circling back to the politics of course, I find that both Leo and Melba are something of a dual representation of RTD. Melba felt like the political activist that RTD absolutely feels like he needs to be while Leo would be the one he's more like than he'd care to admit to being. That conversation at Canal Street felt revealing on that front.

- Channel 4 released the first two episodes online after the first one aired. The remaining three will be online from Sunday.

- Leo and George realised they were both on the same hook up app, Saul was silent sex camming, Marie was getting off to Slow Horses erotica and Clive was watching death videos.

- Leo moved to Manchester from Scotland in 1994 and contracted HIV from a former boyfriend who died six years later. Melba has an unrequited crush on Leo and went off on a conservative drag queen. Leo's club is called Spit & Polish.

- Leo's former boyfriend Curtis (Charlie Condou) left him for a woman. Leo's friend Stephanie (Elizabeth Berrington) was revealed to be gender critical. She also appeared dead or unconscious in the opening scene.

- Standout music: The way Sam Smith and Kim Petras's Unholy was used in that particular scene.

- Chronology: Most of the first episode took place ten days before Leo's death. Leo was 59.

This opening episode exposed RTD's strengths once again as a writer and it's clear as day that this was the type of thing that he'd rather be writing these days. Both Alan Cumming and David Morrissey are great but I actually thought that Paul Rhys kind of stole the show from them. 

Rating: 8 out of 10