The final episode of Tip Toe is now available on Channel 4, with viewers likely to be shaken by the disturbing events that unfold.
Despite living only a door away from one another for more than a decade, the two have never previously been more than acquaintances, but a growing sense of mistrust detonates catastrophically after a series of contentious encounters.
Radio Times spoke to Tip Toe stars Cumming and Morrissey about the troubling episode of television, to gain their thoughts on the realism of the scenario depicted, the contributory causes – and crucially, how such scenes could be avoided in real life.
Tip Toe ending explained: Alan Cumming and David Morrissey on horrific finale
The big question that many will have after these distressing scenes is: could it really happen in Britain today? For the stars of the show, the answer is clear.
While there is a "theatrical" element to its presentation in Tip Toe, co-star Morrissey points out that "mob violence is very much happening now", with the UK-wide riots of summer 2024 being a frightening example.
"This is about forcing people to reckon with where we are... and hopefully start to change that," said Cumming. "And it has to come from our leaders, they need to speak out more, and say, 'No, this is wrong, this is disgusting, we're not going to countenance it'."
Although well-intended, the excessive drinking involved, as well as the repeated sharing of a photo showing George with a glamorous makeover, put the closeted 16-year-old in a perilous situation.
"They goad each other and shame each other and ridicule each other," explains Morrissey. "There's this thing that's happening between them all, where a momentum starts to build. And Leo comes into that momentum."
Underestimating the volatility at play, Leo attempts to perform a welfare check, but within minutes tempers flare as a series of images and videos are streamed to the TV that leave Clive scrambling to save face.
The group sees his caring, empathetic gesture as a sign of weakness, with Roddy even suggesting that he's having an affair with the drag queen, which spurs Clive to take extreme action in a malignant attempt to reassert his masculinity and authority.
It's a hideous outcome that leaves you feeling cold, hollowed out, and desperately searching for what could have prevented things from escalating to such an unbearable extent.
"Free speech is a very interesting thing, but it doesn't mean to say you can call me a b*****d all the time," said Morrissey. "You've got to be able to [engage] the empathetic gene inside you, that thing of, 'What's it like to be that person?'
He continued: "That's what's been lost, I think, and that's what's been amplified by social media, is the idea that it's alright to be horrible, both verbally and physically, to other people who you feel are the targets of your anger."
Cumming explains: "The further down the rabbit hole of some issue you get, you're only going to be fed more things to amplify what you already suspect."
Bursting the online bubbles that many of us inhabit will involve reaching out and staying in touch with those who have different perspectives (albeit, without putting oneself in harm's way as Leo inadvertently does in this finale).
Steph makes known her view that the LGBTQ+ community can push things too far at times, with a particular scepticism over the fight for trans rights and calls for more progressive gender identity policy.
Cumming openly states that he receives the "most hatred" online "from women who feel that my support for trans people is anti-women", and laments that he's "rarely" in situations where he can "actually engage" with someone of that view.
"It's really important to keep having those relationships, and to try [to reach understanding]," continued Cumming. "I think it'd be really fascinating for people who watch this... to maybe start talking about why we need to not be so intransigent about our opinions."
"There's an argument to say that Clive is at his most vulnerable and most articulate when he's in the company of Leo," said Morrissey, referring in part to a fraught yet candid late-night discussion between their characters.
He concludes that a "very isolated person" is "very dangerous", as it often leads to the internet and their own imagination filling in any gaps in their understanding; a fate that Clive succumbs to, despite the appeals of his own longtime neighbour.
A series of text cards reveal what happens next, from criminal convictions for Clive and his accomplices to the future of the Goss family.
Marie moves away with her sons, with Saul managing to build a new life in Scotland, while George's promising life is reduced to one of drug abuse and petty crime.
Some viewers may remember that Russell T Davies had originally envisioned It's A Sin having a sixth instalment flashing forward into the future, which begs the question of whether these developments were ever an episode of their own.
"They just went, 'OK, that works'," recalled Morrissey. "I do think it does give you [the impression of] a life, particularly around George... here's this boy, it's really difficult for him, it's really complicated for him, and it ruins his life.
Cumming added: "The whole point is something really horrible happens, a seismic shift in the narrative, but then look at the detritus that it leaves. But that's it, we're done now... that's the point to end it."
Tip Toe is available to stream on Channel 4.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
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