My unsolicited review of the TV show Tip Toe.
Expect spoilers. TW homophobia, lynching, murder
My experience of the work of Russel T Davis thus far has been his work on Doctor Who. Lighthearted. Fun. Not always good but always something I can walk away from feeling... nice. This is not that.
I can be blamed for not doing my due diligence. Seeing a few clips on Instagram reels of all places does not an informed exploration of potential triggers make. That being said I don't think any list of triggers could prepare me for how this show ended nor do I think a warning would have dissuaded me from watching the show. I have a morbid curiosity. I don't know yet if I regret watching it but it is safe to say that I won't be sleeping for a good few hours yet.
Tip Toe follows the relationship between two neighbors. Leo a gay nightclub owner on Canal Street in Manchester's gay village, and the Goss family made up of homophobic conspiracy theorist piece of shit father Clive, secretly gay 16 year old son George, and secret porn star son Saul. Really the show follows Clive's relationships with each of the above people in different ways so I will explore them separately.
His relationship with Saul is really the most healthy. He discovers that Saul has been creating adult content online after seeing a video in a Whatsapp message on Leo's computer and though this feeds into his pseudo moralistic rage against Leo his relationship with Saul stays mostly the same. Why? Well because he's straight. A common through-line in the show is the tired and ridiculous delusion that Leo is somehow responsible for George being gay and though often seen as immoral Saul's adult content at least confirms his heterosexuality and proves he is unblemished by the evil gay virus.
George on the other hand has a much harder time, though he is sheltered from some of the worst of it by Leo. George and Leo exchange messages on a Grindr like hookup app that George is too young for where Leo comforts George about his sexuality. Foolish perhaps but ultimately harmless. However, Clive discovers these messages and loses his shit. Leo and Clive come to blows but Leo convinces Clive not to take it out on his son. And he doesn't, he leaves it alone. Of course he declines to protect his son from homophobic bullying that happens right in front of his face. But he doesn't bully him himself. I hope the sarcasm dripping from that sentence was obvious. He may not be outright abused but he is certainly neglected.
George and Clive both go on journeys to understand George's sexuality throughout the show. George makes great leaps towards accepting himself. He makes new friends, tries makeup for the first time, and manages to say the words 'I am gay' for the first time. An emotional scene to be sure. But for Clive its one step forwards two steps back. Davies edges us, hinting at some progress in his understanding, and then yanks it back with a new conspiracy theory, a new delusion, a new reason to believe that the gays are out to get him. It would be sad if it weren't so infuriating - and demoralizing. I try to be hopeful. I try to think that people can be convinced to see the good in people. If you are looking for that look elsewhere.
Clive's relationship with Leo is the most distressing. With no familial ties to bind them Clive's contempt is unbounded and his alpha male protective instincts coupled with his homophobic delusions cook up a potent cocktail ending... how the show ends. Clive's feelings about his sons get projected onto Leo and his paranoia twists them to paint Leo as some embodiment of evil, the cause of all of his problems. Saul's sexuality is projected on Leo who Clive views as sexually promiscuous and predatory. George's sexuality is projected onto Leo the big bad Gay man. Clive cannot hate his children so he hates Leo. This does not stop him from hating his children but redirects some of the attention.
Mental health bares mentioning here I think. Clive is clearly not well. No rational well adjusted person could behave the way he does. No reasonable, stable person could do what he does. The homophobia in this show is clearly compounded by Clive's own issues but this does not change the fact homophobia and queer-phobia more generally are on the rise in this country. More so I think it highlights the failings and gaps in our mental health services and the need for a more holistic approach to tackling bigotry and violence in the world.
*Spoilers for the ending* The story of course ends with Leo being lynched by a gang of football hooligans, led by Clive and his friends. He is hung by the neck from a lamppost on a normal residential street while ordinary people watch on in horror unable to intervene. And others look on with the power to stop them. But they just don't care. This, I think, is the most poignant message of the show. Those who see, those with power, those who do not use it. This story would be harrowing if Clive took Leo down a dark alley on his own and killed him in private. But what makes this story so much worse is how avoidable it was, if those with a little power would stick their heads out, but they did not.
I should end this with a call to action. Protect yourself and those around you. But truly I don't know what to do. I suppose, take the fight to the far right and go down swinging. My only hope is that we don't leave this world in a worse state for those who follow.
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