Viewers have been transfixed over recent weeks with Russell T Davies' latest drama, Tip Toe, a five-part series exploring the rise in anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment across the United Kingdom.
The series has now come to its brutal conclusion, and taking to social media, fans have heaped praise on the show, with many saying they were speechless over the ending.
For those who haven't seen any episodes, best look away now, as there will be spoilers from this point on…
Although Leo's murder isn't any surprise, with his hanging body being in the first show of the five-part series, everything that led up to the moment has been revealed, with his next-door neighbour, Clive, leading the charge after getting egged on by his football hooligan friends.
Cards reveal several of the main characters' fates, with Clive getting sent to prison following the "execution", while his friends serve varying prison sentences for their part in the crime. Meanwhile, his two sons, George and Saul, have differing fates.
George's battles with his sexuality framed a key part of the show, with the cards revealing that following Clive's murder of Leo, he falls in and out of trouble and becomes hooked on drugs, while Saul, who attempted to stop the attack, eventually settles down with a woman, starting his own family.
Reaction
Viewers were left shellshocked by the events that played out, with one saying: "Just finished watching Tip Toe. A very hard watch. Brilliant writing and acting and sadly not far from truth from the world we live in today driven by hate and lack of empathy, tolerance and ignorance."
A second added: "Tip Toe on Channel 4 is up there with the best television in years. Absolutely harrowing. Alan Cumming & David Morrissey are both incredible," while a third penned: "Tip Toe was incredible television. It opens up so many discussions and cleverly tells different stories to give some realistic insight. Mostly though, I was left speechless at the end. I don't know how to feel or even what to say about it."
© James_StackA fourth commented: "Tip Toe was an absolutely fantastic watch! It was gripping, stressful & infuriating all at once! 10/10 but I'll never watch it again," while a fifth shared: "Genuinely feel a bit fragile from finishing Tip Toe last night," and a sixth posted: "Tip Toe – provocative, frightening, a reflection of the UK today. So much ground won in the 80s, 90s, and 00s… ebbing helplessly away for today's LGBTQ+ generation. This is must-watch TV, must-be shared TV."
A seventh mused: "Thank you Russell as a 66 year old gay man I'm so glad you have shown the world what we're up against. Tip Toe is a triumph undoubtedly the most powerful honest television I've ever watched."
Cast thoughts
HELLO! spoke to the cast of the show at a red carpet event, with many of them opining that the events that took place in Tip Toe aren't too far off from happening in the real world.
When asked if he thought the world was heading that way, Alan told us: "I think it's where the world is, it's a very bad time to be queer in this country, in America, in many parts of the world. Hopefully, this show will make us all have a conversation about how we've got to this place and why. It's common in history when economically things aren't going well, that people want somebody to blame and point at, and we're a low-hanging fruit in society, whether it be queer people or people who are refugees or immigrants, that is clearly happening in this country."
© Ben BlackallCharlie Condou concurred, saying: "I've talked about it with Russell, and it really does feel like that we've come in a lot of ways, we've come so far with LGBT rights and queer rights, and we're in a very different place to where we perhaps were 30 years ago when we were young. I do feel like a lot of things are going backwards."
Paul Rhys, who plays Melba in the show, added: "We grew up in a time where the expectation that rights would simply go wider and wider, and it would keep getting better, and suddenly not suddenly, those rights are eroded. I'm not sure, as Melba said about the pendulum swinging back, I don't think it does go back. It certainly goes on. I don't believe it goes back, so it might be worse, and that's why it's very important to have a voice."
