Shakeel Kimotho's television debut in Channel 4's Tip Toe has been hailed for its unflinching storytelling and timely exploration of queer life in modern Britain. The mixed-heritage trans woman of Kenyan and Indian descent plays Hannah in the powerful thriller from writer Russell T Davies.
A Role That Resonates
For Shakeel, the role represents far more than a breakthrough screen credit. The series has already struck a chord with audiences, arriving at a pivotal moment as discussions around trans visibility and LGBTQ+ rights dominate headlines. It has been praised for offering a nuanced portrayal of queerness and transness that reflects the realities, complexities, and humanity of those communities.
With a rich background in stage productions including La Cage Aux Folles, CATS, and Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, Shakeel brought both warmth and resilience to the world of queer television. Fittingly, that journey unfolded in Manchester, a city whose deep-rooted LGBTQ+ history and thriving queer community are woven into the very fabric of the series.
Finding Out About the Role
Shakeel sat down with the Manchester Evening News, where she celebrated her journey leading up to her television debut, reflected on the life and legacy of Canal Street, and explained why Tip Toe was needed now more than ever. Touching on when she found out she'd be appearing in the five-part series as Hanna, who works at Spit & Polish, Shakeel gushed: "I was in Asda Living with my little sister, and I saw a call from my agent and I thought, 'I don't know what this is for'. She told me and I was completely taken aback, my sister knew it was good news from my reaction."
She added: "It's the biggest thrill, the biggest opportunity that I've ever had and I think this is once in a lifetime, this story is so important. Russell T Davies is so incredible. The rest of the cast, it just means so much to me. I'm so happy to be a part of this project."
Importance of Diverse Representation
Shakeel admits how important diverse representation is. For a younger Shakeel, seeing someone like Hanna on screen would have been profoundly impactful. Beyond the character herself, the series' commitment to showcasing queer, working-class, and northern voices offered the kind of representation she rarely encountered growing up.
She added: "I think it's very rare that you get queer stories told so authentically, and the intersectionality of that with working class people, a working class community, with a northern community too. It was just cast so well, and the characters themselves have got such an array of stories and lived experiences too. All of the actors were able to bring to these characters, their motivations, their stories and their fears."
Recalling one of her earliest experiences of seeing representation in the arts, Shakeel reflected on the profound impact visibility can have. She continued: "It has been so affirming to be everything that I wanted to be in life. I remember the first time I saw black people on stage was when Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre came to the Alhambra in Bradford and I remember being so taken aback at just seeing black artistry in that kind of form."
She added: "I would have felt a very similar thing to seeing queerness and transness, displayed in a really healthy, really positive way. To see transness that's not centred for the male gaze. I think it would have reframed my whole understanding of what transness can be and how it can look, and what it really is at the humanity of it."
Why Tip Toe Had to Be Made Now
Russell T Davies also told us that Tip Toe had to be made now given the increasingly challenging landscape facing many LGBTQ+ people. For Shakeel, the themes explored throughout the series feel inseparable from the realities many queer people continue to navigate every day. In agreement, Shakeel exclaimed: "It feels like it's absolutely on the nose of what's happening in the world and the shifts that we're all seeing and we're all so scared of. I think we all started to see different versions of ourselves and all of these characters, different versions of communities and people we know, people we used to know portrayed throughout all of this."
She added: "I have experienced so much queerphobia, transphobia, homophobia, misogynoir, misogyny in growing up. I've also heard so many horrific stories being in the creative industry and I think all of that came into the show."
Manchester as a Character
Set in Manchester, Tip Toe does more than use the city as a backdrop as one of the UK's most significant LGBTQ+ hubs. From its nightlife to its activism, the city becomes an essential part of the storytelling, with Canal Street emerging as a living, breathing presence throughout the series. When asked how it was to film in Manchester, and if it felt like "coming home", Shakeel gave a warm laugh as she admitted: "It felt so right. It was a bit of a surreal moment because I watched Queer as Folk growing up and it felt like all of a sudden I was sitting in this era. Russell's amazing ability to pick and dissect one slither of the queer experience and flesh it out rather than giving a wash of colour painting queerness and being like, that'll do."
She continued: "The life of Canal Street was so amazing. They really allowed Manchester, and particularly Canal Street to be its own character that really does evolve through the story. It feels like it's alive because it is northern queerness. I could not imagine it happening anywhere else, even though this is a diverse story, it just absolutely had to be Manchester."
Future Ambitions
For Shakeel, whose first television role has arrived in one of the year's most talked-about dramas, the experience has only fuelled her ambition to continue telling stories across both stage and screen. She said: "I definitely want to do more screen work moving forward and then go back to theatre and just do it all! I've been able to do such amazing things with my career, this just feels like the start of a whole new branch of continuing to tell queer and non-queer stories."
Outside of acting, Shakeel is equally passionate about education, mentorship and encouraging others to embrace who they are. Through her work with students, she hopes to help nurture the next generation of artists, creators and performers, particularly those who may not yet see themselves reflected in the industries they aspire to enter. She added: "I lecture at colleges and universities, teach all work to master level and it's one of my most favourite things to be able to inspire people just to be themselves, queer and non-queer people. I think queer people have this beautiful, spiritual nature of just allowing themselves to be authentic. You have to be brave enough to face all the elements of yourself, I would love to inspire more artists and creators and actors to be able to do that."
Tip Toe is currently streaming on Channel 4.
