Scottish actor Alan Cumming to star alongside David Morrisey in new Russell T Davies Channel 4 drama

Actors Alan Cumming and David Morrissey will star in a new Channel 4 drama written by the Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies.

The award-winning actors have been announced as the new leads in Tip Toe, in a five-part series about Leo – a funny and dynamic owner of a bar in Manchester’s Gay Village (Cumming) – and Clive (Morrissey), the unsmiling and troubled next-door neighbour.

Set in Manchester, the series follows the pair, who, after living next door to each other for almost 15 years, become “deadly enemies” as words and radicalised opinions divide them.

Speaking about the show, Cumming, known for Cabaret and hosting the US version of The Traitors, described the series as “prescient and necessary”.

Alan Cumming and David Morrissey at a Tip Toe readthrough (Channel 4/PA) PA Media

He said: “The best things in life are worth waiting for, and the best people. Russell T Davies and I have been trying to work together for over 20 years.

“Now, not only are we working together but doing so with one of my dearest, oldest friends, Dave Morrissey – and in a piece of work I think is so brilliant and prescient and necessary.

“I don’t say this lightly, but this is truly an honour.”

The Deal actor Morrissey said: “I’m delighted to be working with Russell again, and also to be working with Alan who has been a great friend of mine for over 40 years but we’ve never had the chance to work together.

Russell T Davies during a Tip Toe readthrough (Channel 4/PA) PA Media

“It’s a privilege to be with them both on this astonishing piece of work.”

Davies, 62, is best known for reviving BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who in 2005, and creating the hit series It’s A Sin, which examined the human stories behind the 1980s Aids crisis.

Coronation Street star Denise Welch also joins the cast alongside Pooky Quesnel, known for Moonflower Murders, Hollyoaks actress Iz Hesketh, Last Night In Soho’s Elizabeth Berrington, and Saltburn actor Paul Rhys.