Imagine for a moment that you are a parent in Gaza. The bombs have been falling for months, your children have learned the sound of drones, and every night you wonder whether you will wake up. Then you hear that the British government, at the Labour Party conference, has reopened a resettlement scheme for refugees fleeing war and persecution. You hear that one in four referrals will be for Afghan women and girls and Palestinian refugees. For the first time in a long time, you allow yourself to feel something close to hope. But then the details begin to emerge,…

Russell T Davies’s Tip Toe, a fine new drama on Starz, begins at the end. Leo Struther, a gay Manchester bar owner played with phenomenal grace by Alan Cumming, is hanging dead from a streetlight outside his own house. A woman screams. His neighbor, Clive Goss, stands on his porch, breathing heavily. It is a cold, brutal image, and it sets the tone for everything that follows. Then, as so many series do nowadays, the story goes back in time—ten days, to be precise—to show us how Leo got there. The technique might feel familiar, but Davies is not interested…