Must Watch reviews: Tip Toe, Star City, and Spider-Noir

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join Naga Munchetty to review ‘Star City’, ‘Tip Toe’ and ‘Spider-Noir’.

What do the Must Watch reviewers make of them?

Tip Toe has been written and created by Russell T Davies (It’s A Sin, Queer as Folk and Doctor Who). This fictional series is set in Manchester and looks at a growing feud between two neighbours. The feud is between queer bar owner Leo (played by Alan Cumming) and the more reserved Clive (David Morrissey).

Scott and Hayley both think this is a Must Watch.

Hayley says, “it gets increasingly horrible to watch but at the same time I think it becomes a better TV show as it goes on. It’s worth sticking this one to the end”.

“Russell T Davies is giving a warning about the trajectory of the wider world through this very small domestic story.”

“It feels like he’s decided it’s too late for a gentle allegory so he’s gone with something devastating and brutal instead.”

Hayley believes that “it’s a very believable horror story about escalation. The performances of David Morrissey and Alan Cumming are both great”.

Scott points out “you can tell how much passion has gone into this script“.

“It highlights how forces that seem distant, like hate speech online or political discourse, can filter down into everyday interactions.”

“What it does so well is look at how marginalised people feel the consequences of this hate. By episode four it feels frighteningly within reach.”

Scott says that “the performances are fantastic. David Morrissey in particular has so many layers and you understand how he became that person”.

Scott adds, “the people who need to see this the most are not going to tune into it, that’s just the way it is”.

The first two episodes of Tip Toe are available to watch now on the Channel 4 website. Episode three will be out on Sunday 7th June.

This is a spin-off from the Apple TV show For All Mankind, which was a story looking at what would have happened if the global space race had never ended, and if the Russians had been the first to land on the moon. For All Mankind provided the US perspective, Star City provides the Soviet. It stars Anna Maxwell Martin and Rhys Ifans.

Scott really likes that “it’s nearly entirely set in Russia and there are no fake Russian accents put on at all”.

“I find you just can’t get past fake accents.”

“This is from the Soviet Union’s perspective, but it’s a lot more granular and more about the conspiracy, paranoia, corruption and how the Soviet Union essentially operated back then.”

Scott says, “the space scenes are absolutely staggering, it really feels like you are there and the attention to detail in the political environment is great too”.

Though Scott thinks that you should see For All Mankind first, “It’s a bit like having a side instead of having a main course.”

Hayley says, “it’s not so much about space, it’s about paranoia. No one trusts anyone else, there are spies everywhere”.

“I think this one is considerably darker, not just in how it’s shot but emotionally too. It’s more about people trying to live in a world completely ruled by fear.”

“Anna Maxwell Martin is terrifying in this. Rhys Ifans is great and kind of weird, I’m into it.”

Hayley adds, “I don’t know if you need to have seen For All Mankind to enjoy it, because this one is about a different thing.”

The first two episodes of Star City are available to watch now on Apple TV with the third episode available on Friday 5th June.

Spider-Noir on Amazon Prime stars Nicolas Cage as an aging and down-on-his-luck private investigator in 1930s New York, who is forced to grapple with his past life as the city's one and only superhero after working on an unusual case.

This is “a good watch, not a Must Watch” for Scott.

He says, “You can tell there is a lot of love in it, filmed as a homage, even letting you watch it in black and white or colour.”

“Nicolas Cage plays it like you would expect. He says he plays it 70% Humphrey Bogart and 30% Bugs Bunny.”

Scott adds that “it feels like a box ticking exercise of superhero clichés but it’s fun and easily watchable”.

On the other hand, this is a Must Watch for Hayley.

She says, “This is different, this is barely a Marvel thing.”

“This is Nicolas Cage going full Nicolas Cage. He’s playing with the genre he knows inside out.”

“I think if you watch it in colour you’re missing the point. It’s a story that makes sense in black and white.”

Hayley adds that “it's a noir movie first, superhero second, with a deep sadness and humour running through it”.

All eight episodes of Spider-Noir are available to watch on Amazon Prime Video now.

Listen to the full reviews of all three programmes on BBC Sounds.

But before all that, why not contact Scott and Hayley with the shows you’ve been loving, loathing or both on mustwatch@bbc.co.uk.

We used AI to transcribe and summarise our Must Watch feature. This article was then written and reviewed by a BBC journalist. More on how the BBC uses AI.