SCENE is Manchester’s annual LGBTQ+ film and TV festival, which ran across 2026 from August 20th to the 27th. It was launched in 2024 by the Manchester Accommodation BID, and has drawn impressive crowds since its inception. The week was packed with all sorts of events between screenings of queer classics, short films, documentaries, quiz nights or even walking tours.
This year, television writer Russell T. Davies was present for two different events celebrating his work: screenings and Q&As for his series Tip Toe and It’s a Sin. Tip Toe aired this past May, a psychological thriller about two warring neighbours, while It’s a Sin premiered in 2021, following a group of young queer people in London just beginning their adult lives at the start of the AIDS crisis.
Tip Toe was screened first, shown in New Century Hall on the second day. The ambience of the venue was fabulous considering we were there to watch one of the most devastating episodes of television to air in recent years, with the place illuminated by brilliant multicoloured lights and a playlist of queer anthems such as Bronski Beat‘s ‘Small Town Boy’ and ‘Oh L’Amour’ by Erasure as people found their seats.
Davies’s first Q&A was conducted in two parts: half before they played the final episode, and half after. Broadcaster and author Scott Bryan hosted the panel, and there in conversation was not only Davies, but the show’s director Peter Hoar, executive producer Nicola Sindle, producer Phil Collinson, and stars Iz Hesket and Jackson Connor.
One of the first questions Bryan posed was to Davies, asking why he felt compelled to write a show like Tip Toe, one so full of rage at the way the queer community is being perceived and treated in 2026. Davies replied that it was written because he felt the need to shout in frustration and lay everything out on the table. He revealed that he actually got pushback from a few fans who questioned why he covered so much (even touching on Brexit), and in response to this criticism, he said something that I’d never considered before: “Everything is connected”. Brexit happens, the economy tanks, people’s jobs and livelihoods are threatened, they get angry, they need someone to blame, and those in power spoon-feed them lies about LGBTQ+ people so they have somewhere to put their anger; a smokescreen to distract from the real problem.
Davies told us that the show’s agenda can be summarised in the monologue delivered by Paul Rhys’s character Melba during the first episode. Melba points out that, through publicly spreading false information during speeches and fearmongering online, Trump and other world leaders have given people permission to be hateful, saying: “I think they’ve always hated us, only now they don’t have to pretend anymore”. When Alan Cumming’s character Leo tries to assure Melba that things will eventually swing back around and get easier for queer people again, Melba says what no one wants to, but everyone has to admit: “What if it doesn’t?”.
Tip Toe utilizes a cyclical narrative; the opening shot of the pilot episode shows viewers how the story will end, then cuts back to ten days prior. The audience therefore isn’t trying to work out what’s going to happen, but how we’re going to get there. Even though you know the story’s end, nothing will prepare you for how unflinchingly brutal the finale is. People in the audience covered their eyes, jaws dropped in shock; some even turned away or left the room. Brutality is to me what Davies does so compellingly, and there really is no other word for his work. His writing elicits such a visceral impact because it’s simply so real, extracted straight from the source of real strife within queer communities.
Iz Hesket said that, after filming the finale, everyone was given a week-long break and provided with mental health support where necessary, something that she said was a “luxury” and that, despite the show’s grim subject matter, the set was ultimately a joyous place to be. Some of the actors who played smaller parts in the episode were actually in the audience and, although they played such deplorable characters, they were greeted with an outpouring of love from everyone on stage, which was reassuring to see.
Then, on August 23rd, I headed to Aviva Studios for It’s a Sin. The structure of this event was slightly different, starting with an hour-long panel hosted by actor and activist Nathaniel J. Hall, prior to a screening of the full series. On the panel for this event again was Davies, alongside executive producer Nicola Sindle, producer Phil Collinson, alongside actors Lydia West and Nathaniel Curtis.
The first thing the panel discussed was how difficult this show actually was to make, as no studio wanted to touch it due to its themes. Eventually, Channel 4 gave them the green light. Even on such a tight budget, most of their funding went towards the soundtrack. They knew they wanted wall-to-wall ’80s bangers, and said Kate Bush actually wrote them personally to give permission to use her music.
The show shines a light on what really happened during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, and it is steadfast in its honesty. Over the course of five episodes, you watch happy, good people die needless deaths not just from the disease, but from the shame and stigma it carried along with it. Infected patients were locked up alone in wards like prisoners, and people went to lengths as extreme as drinking battery acid to try and escape their diagnosis.
Interestingly, the original title for the show was Boys, but they had to scrap that because of fears it would get confused with the Amazon series The Boys. For a brief moment it was going to be called Queer as Folk: 1982, acting as a spin-off to Davies’ landmark queer show from the 1990s, Queer as Folk.
After the panel, I was lucky enough to briefly speak with both Davies and Nathaniel Curtis to ask them what it meant to have the series be shown here at a festival like SCENE. Davies told me it was a very intentional choice to have the panel at Aviva studios, because in February 2027 there is going to be a dance version of It’s a Sin happening there – put on by dance company Rambert – and that he was grateful so many people still cared and talk about the show five years later. Curtis said being in Manchester felt like “coming home”, since a large chunk of the series was filmed nearby.
What I particularly love about both of these shows is the moral ambiguity of their characters. Nobody is perfect, and there is no clearly defined good or evil. Protagonists are bold, funny people whose side you’re absolutely on, but they also make devastating mistakes and say idiotic things. Conversely, while the antagonists make horrible decisions and hurt the people around them, you can’t ever call them truly evil, and are able to understand their actions alongside fleeting moments of humanity.
I’m a gay woman in my early 20s, so I can somewhat relate to the characters in It’s a Sin – young and free in a world that doesn’t care about them. I’ve met people like Leo in Tip Toe many times throughout my life, people who’ve faced terrible adversity but always come out the other side with a cheeky smile and witty remark. His social media-addicted right-wing counterpart Clive unfortunately reminds me of certain colleagues and family members I know many other queer people have too: loud and confidently ignorant types, parroting misinformation and forever unwilling to admit that they’re wrong.
Tip Toe and It’s a Sin are scary because they’re so authentic, but such authenticity and accuracy is what we’re in dire need of today. Everyone, no matter who you are or how much you think you may already know, would benefit from watching both shows. When asked at the end of the Tip Toe panel what final words of advice he had for the audience, Davies asserted: “Don’t tip toe. Be loud, be proud, and be ready for the fight”.
Tip Toe and It’s a Sin are both available to watch for free on Channel 4.
