Russell T Davies teases his new Channel 4 drama: "It's radical. It's savage. And it's hilarious."

In an exclusive interview with the Big Issue, Davies revealed: "Tip Toe is Queer as Folk crossed with Years and Years. That's exactly what it is. I'm very proud of it. It's radical. It's savage. And it's hilarious.

"It is the strongest thing I've written – I do believe Queer as Folk, Cucumber, It’s a Sin and Tip Toe are the ones that will be on my gravestone."

Described as a "suburban thriller", the series will follow next-door neighbours, bar owner Leo and electrician Clive, who lead very different lives.

But what happens when certain opinions become radicalised? The series will dig into just that and examine the growing tensions that exist within the world as words become weapons, eventually leading to the two neighbours becoming deadly enemies

While the series is set to be another timely and important hit for Davies, the screenwriter also warned that things are "rapidly and urgently getting worse" for gay rights.

In the same interview with the Big Issue, Davies suggested that the queer community should be "revolting in terror" at the current political climate in the UK.

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He said: "When Queer as Folk came out in 1999, if you’d said, 'What will gay rights be like in 2025?', we'd have said, 'Oh, it will all be marvellous. It'll be sunshine and skipping down the street, hand in hand – gays, queers, lesbians, everyone.'

"And look at where we are. Things got better. But now things are rapidly and urgently getting worse.

"What happens in America always happens here – and as we look down the barrel of a Reform government, we, the gay community, queer community, should be revolting in terror and anger and action."

Tip Toe has also been described as "an urgent yet gripping tale that brings a spotlight to bear on the re-emergence of an incipient threat".

So, we can expect real-world parallels as Davies is set to incorporate plenty of culture war conversations into the five-part series.

Before the series was officially announced, Davies had hinted about it on the Talk Art podcast with hosts Russell Tovey and Robert Diament.

When asked about whether he had some TV ideas percolating, Davies said there were, admitting: "Yeah, with the world getting madder and madder with trans rights, queer rights, gay rights, women's rights.

"It's like we're all arguing with each other when we should be arguing with the enemy. So, I've been spending a lot of time there just to... get the temperature of the place, and I discover it's still the same old place."

Tip Toe will be coming to Channel 4.

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