Dir. Peter Hoar · Created and written by Russell T Davies · 2026 · 5 episodes of about 45 min · Starz (US), Channel 4 (UK)
Leo Struthers (Alan Cumming) owns a gay bar in Manchester. Clive Goss (David Morrissey) is an out-of-work electrician who lives next door. They have been neighbours for years, and the show opens in the aftermath of a death on their street before rewinding ten days to find out how two people who nodded over the fence ended up here. A small humiliation sets it off. The rest is how quickly it can grow when everyone involved is already angry and already online.
The two leads. Critics who disagree about almost everything else agree on Cumming and Morrissey, and the reviews describe a drama built on two men who each believe they are the reasonable one. Davies has spent a career writing warmth and anger side by side, and the neighbour-versus-neighbour frame lets him do both in a small space: a front garden, a doorstep, a pub.
When it gives its characters room to breathe, it can be remarkable drama, anchored by two of the year's best performances.Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
It is also short. Five episodes is enough to follow the escalation without padding, and the pace is the one a thriller needs: every scene makes the next one more likely.
The same review goes on to say the show can feel contrived when characters become mouthpieces for the writer, and that is where critics split. TIME's Judy Berman reads the melodrama as a strength, and finds that its earnestness reaches a truth the plot does not always earn. Others admire the anger and wish the argument were left more to the characters. If you want your drama oblique, this will feel like it is raising its voice.
There is also a content warning to take seriously: the series deals with homophobic hostility, online radicalisation and a death, and critics call it harrowing.
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It aired on Channel 4 in the UK and arrives on Starz in the US on 2 October 2026. Reports also list other services in a few countries. Availability varies by country, so check your local listings.