Yahoo Lifestyle Channel 4 Greenlights Latest Russell T. Davies Drama & Reveals Long-Awaited Return of David Mitchell & Robert Webb Sketch Comedy Series
Channel 4 is bringing back its big guns with a Russell T. Davies drama and the return of a David Mitchell and Robert Webb sketch comedy after 15 years.
It’s a Sin creator Davies is making Tip Toe for Channel 4, which the network describes as “exploring the most corrosive forces facing the LGBTQ+ community today.” The show follows Leo and Clive who live next door to each other in Manchester. Leo runs a bar, Clive’s an electrician, with two teenage sons. But just as life should be settling down, the world around them is growing more tense.
More from Deadline
Speaking at a Channel 4 showcase this afternoon in London, Davies said the two leads, who he described as “big names,” are “lined up just not quite signed yet.”
Tip Toe returns to Manchester’s iconic Canal Street, made world famous by Davies’ 1990s hit Queer as Folk. On Tip Toe, he is once again teaming with long-time producing partner Nicola Shindler and her Quay Street Productions. Shindler, Davies and It’s a Sin director Peter Hoar are EPs.
“Channel 4 feels like my spiritual home in many ways and Canal Street feels my spiritual home,” said Davies. “When you put them together there is a lovely explosion. I feel honored and lucky to have a channel allowing me to have a look at gay men in the 21st Century like this.”
Tip Toe is Doctor Who showrunner Davies’ first Channel 4 show since 2021’s It’s a Sin, the smash HBO co-produced drama about the AIDS crisis starring Olly Alexander. He has since been devoting much of his energy on the regenerated Doctor Who while also creating Helena Bonham Carter-starring biopic Nolly for ITV. He has made some of his most critically-acclaimed fare for Channel 4 down the years including Queer as Folk and Cucumber.
Davies said: “It’s my honour to combine my old home, Channel 4, with my second home, Canal Street. This is a show I had to write because the world is getting stranger, tougher and darker, and frankly, the fight is on.”
Mitchell & Webb sketch series
Channel 4 unveiled the news at a London Showcase where it revealed a long-awaited new sketch show from Peep Show pair Mitchell and Webb, coming 15 years after the conclusion of That Mitchell and Webb Look.
The as-yet-untitled series will feature the two doyens of British comedy along with newer names like Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Lara Ricote, Stevie Martin, and Krystal Evans (all pictured). The six-part series will be produced by That Mitchell & Webb Company in association with ITV Studios-backed Big Talk Studios (Friday Night Dinner, Back, Ludwig) and helmed by the BAFTA-winning duo’s long-standing producer Gareth Edwards.
A return for That Mitchell and Webb Look has long been discussed and Mitchell and Webb re-teaming – albeit on something distinct from That Mitchell and Webb Look – will excite comedy fans across the UK, coming off the back of the success of Mitchell-starring BBC show Ludwig. That Mitchell and Webb Look ran on BBC Two from 2006 to 2010, concurrent with Channel 4’s Peep Show. It featured a wealth of well-known sketches including the much-quoted “Hans, are we the baddies?,” ‘The Surprising Adventures of Sir Digby Chicken Caesar’ and ‘Numberwang’. The show featured Olivia Colman playing supporting roles and counted Jesse Armstrong among its writers.
Mitchell and Webb have frequently said they want to work together on sketches again. They did re-team on two seasons of Channel 4’s Back in 2017 and 2021.
The pair said: “When Channel 4 asked us to do another sketch show we were startled, bemused and available. It’s a perilous time for the industry and so it’s our hope that relaunching the trickiest genre of comedy is a brilliant piece of counterintuitive commissioning.”
More drama than ever
Earlier this week, Channel 4 put out a hefty drama slate including a remake of A Woman of Substance, adaptation of The Rachel Incident from the co-creator of Hacks and a second season of Peter Kosminsky’s The Undeclared War.
Ollie Madden, who runs TV drama and Film4, told today’s showcase his new shows, which will mostly occupy the schedules in 2026, “shine a light on British society in a unique way yet are unabashedly entertaining.”
Madden’s budget has been doubled since he took on the combined TV-film role and he said Channel 4 will soon be launching a drama per month, which he said is “more than ever in history.”
Best of Deadline
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
