Russell T Davies says Tip Toe ending required debate over its final epilogue delivery

How Alan Cumming And David Morrissey's 40-Year Friendship Helped Them Play Enemies In Tip Toe

Alan Cumming and David Morrissey in Tip ToeIn Russell T Davies’ new drama Tip Toe, Alan Cumming and David Morrissey play feuding neighbours whose turf war spirals out of control with tragic consequences.But in real life, it turns out the pair are lifelong chums.Outside of Tip Toe, Alan and David have been friends for around 40 years and, in fact, were even neighbours for a long time.Speaking to BBC News in the lead-up to Tip Toe’s release, David explained: “We have to do some pretty tough stuff, but the great thing about being with an actor who is a friend is that you can really push it.” He added that after shooting a “very confrontational” scene, he and Alan would be “hugging each other and making sure each other are alright”.Alan also told ITV’s This Morning that his friendship with David “really helped” them get through what might otherwise have been quite a difficult shoot due to the show’s heavy subject matter.In a separate interview, Russell told The Hollywood Reporter: “It turned out [Alan has] been best friends with David Morrissey for 40 years, and they’d never appeared on screen together.“When they did their first little scene on Canal Street, we all gave them a round of applause. It was such a lovely moment.”David Morrissey, Alan Cumming and Russell T Davies at the launch of Tip Toe last monthThe Bafta winner also told Channel 4 that it was Alan who suggested that David could play Clive, having already been cast as Leo in the early stages of the creative process.“He said, ‘oh, I’ve sent the script to Dave’. And we were like, ‘brilliant, imagine getting David Morrissey as well’,” Russell recalled. “And it happened!”Russell enthused: “The fact that that they’re friends in real life, it just shows how great actors they are because they fucking hate each other [in the show] and it’s visceral and uncomfortable.“[Being friends] gave them a lot of freedom, I think. They didn’t have to spend time getting to know each other, so I think they felt very free to go for it.”He added: “They’ve been mates for 40 years, so they knew they could go for it. And I think there’s a real boldness in what they do together.”The brutal finale of Tip Toe premiered on Channel 4’s streaming service over the weekend, with Russell previously opening up to HuffPost UK about what went into the unflinching scene.MORE TIP TOE:Russell T Davies: 'The World Is Out Of Control In A Way We Won't Even Contemplate'9 Things We Learned From The Tip Toe Cast About The Hard-Hitting New Channel 4 DramaTip Toe Creator Russell T Davies Talks Us Through The Show's Brutal Ending

12 hours ago

Russell T Davies Admits There Were 'Arguments' Over How Tip Toe Should End

Alan Cumming and David Morrissey in the Channel 4 drama Tip ToeThis article contains spoilers for the final episode of Tip Toe.Tip Toe writer Russell T Davies has revealed he and the show’s creative team had some difficulty in coming up with how its bleak epilogue should be conveyed on screen.In the last episode of Tip Toe, after the final sequence that sees Alan Cumming’s character, Leo, being hanged from a lamppost by his neighbour and a baying mob, title cards flash up on screen laying out the fates of the rest of the characters.Speaking to Digital Spy, Russell explained that these “weren’t written in the script as cards” and, in fact, he wasn’t initially sure whether they’d even make it into the show at all.He recalled: “I did that hanging, which was so devastating. I knew I had the very last [flashback] scene there with Alan and Elizabeth [Berrington, who plays Leo’s friend Steph], but it felt like too big a jump to just go from the hanging to that, so... I was genuinely interested in what happened to them all.”The Bafta winner explained: “We talked about all sorts. We talked about whether it should be a behind-the-scenes extra where [Alan and David Morrissey] read it out to camera, or whether it would be cards. Basically the best version was when I appeared in a wingback chair and read it out to the audience,” he continued with a laugh. “Outrageous.“So we had no idea how to do it. I thought we were going to go in for months of discussion. We looked at the first edit and Peter Hoar, such a brilliant director, had done it [as it appears in the finished screen].”Russell T Davies at Comic-Con in 2024After that, Russell noted, there were arguments about “the placing of the cards exactly”, the order they’d appear in and even the font used, but he’s now “really, very proud of” how the sequence turned out.During an interview with HuffPost UK, Russell admitted that many of the characters’ rather grim fates reflected how he saw the modern world as it is.“I don’t feel particularly optimistic,” he shared. “Great people will always do great things. That’s the story of the human race. But I think we’re now out of control in a way that we won’t even contemplate, because getting rid of your WhatsApp thread for your street, so you know what days the bins go out, is more important than children’s mental health.“We’ve got every standard wrong, and we’re trapped. And we’re monetised to stay in this position – and you cannot vote against an algorithm and I think actually there’s no hope. That’s what I think. There is no hope.”All five episodes are now streaming on Channel 4, with the last instalment also airing on TV on Tuesday night at 9pm.MORE TIP TOE:Tip Toe Creator Russell T Davies Talks Us Through The Show's Brutal EndingRussell T Davies: 'The World Is Out Of Control In A Way We Won't Even Contemplate'9 Things We Learned From The Tip Toe Cast About The Hard-Hitting New Channel 4 Drama

15 hours ago

Tip Toe Creator Russell T Davies Talks Us Through The Show's Brutal Ending

Alan Cumming and David Morrissey in Tip ToeThis article contains major spoilers for the final episode of Tip Toe.The final instalment of Russell T Davies’ Tip Toe is likely to be the most brutal episode of TV you watch this year.Starring Alan Cumming and David Morrissey, the five-part drama centres around two neighbours who become embroiled in an all-encompassing feud, exacerbated by the current climate of divisive rhetoric, misinformation and rising bigotry.While episode one had already made it clear that the show would end with Alan’s character, Leo, hanged from a lamppost outside of his house, the finale focussed on the events leading up to this moment.Speaking to HuffPost UK in the lead-up to the drama’s release, Russell made it clear that he didn’t view Tip Toe as a cautionary tale about a not-too-distant future, but a reflection on the modern world as he sees it.“If this was the story of a Jew who’d been hanged from a lamppost, not one person would be doubting the credibility of the story,” he claimed. “In fact, I’d be told that I was out of date, because it’s literally happening out there, in front of us.”Describing the world depicted in Tip Toe, he continued: “I think it’s here. Again, if I was Jewish, I would be pointing at those victims [of hate crimes] and the violence [directed towards them] and saying, ‘here we are’ right now.” Russell T Davies at Comic-Con in 2024The difference in the events of the Tip Toe finale, Russell claimed, is the “formality to what happens”.“If Leo had been beaten to death or stabbed, again, that happened yesterday, in Birmingham, or Manchester, or Edinburgh,” he said. “It happens.“But the fact that there’s a formality to the death, it’s unusual. That’s why I wanted to give it a historical status. It’s like Mussolini hanging from a lamppost – it has happened within our lifetimes, or certainly within the lifetimes of our parents. This has happened.”David agreed during a separate interview: “You only need to look at the news now to know that we’re not talking about some vague future events, it’s right here, right now.”Both Alan and David told HuffPost UK that they knew as soon as they read the script for Tip Toe that it was going to make for a “difficult” shoot thanks to its subject matter.“We said, ‘oh, we have to look after ourselves’ in the readthrough at the start,” Alan recalled, with David saying that he and his co-star “checked in with each other”, as did other members of the crew.“That meant that the experience – although it was exhausting and really knackering – you were held,” the former Walking Dead star explained.Leo and Clive's rivalry comes to a harrowing end in the Tip Toe finale“And Lala, my dog was there,” Alan noted. “It’s so funny – in the street, where all the horrible stuff happens, at the end of the street, as you look out of their doors, to the left and round the corner, there’s a little caravan, and that’s where I would go, and Lala would be there.” He added: “And actually, she’s an extra. In the scene where I go into Clive’s house for the last time – when I say, ‘I’m just popping in’ – she’s an extra, one of the [assistant directors] walks up behind me.”All five episodes of Tip Toe are now available to watch now on Channel 4’s streaming service. Episodes four and five will also air on Channel 4 on Monday and Tuesday night, respectively.MORE TIP TOE:Russell T Davies: 'The World Is Out Of Control In A Way We Won't Even Contemplate'9 Things We Learned From The Tip Toe Cast About The Hard-Hitting New Channel 4 DramaRussell T Davies Hits Back At Critics Calling Tip Toe Too 'On The Nose'

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