The 2020 British coming-of-age series Heartstopper, based on Alice Oseman’s popular webcomic, captured the hearts of TV audiences around the world. It spawned a second successful series and now Netflix is sharing a glimpse of its upcoming third season.
Following the love story between school boys, Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and Nick Nelson (Kit Connor), the show received a rare 100 per cent Rotten Tomatoes score and became one of Netflix UK’s top shows, immediately whizzing to the seventh spot on its top 10 list.
It made Oseman's Heartstopper graphic novel a number one bestseller and the series went on to win five Children's and Family Emmy Awards.
Now Netflix has released images of its third season, which is landing on the streamer in October: last month, it dropped a teaser trailer, and on Tuesday it shared some first-look images.
Although there’s still some time to wait for the arrival of the third chapter of the acclaimed show, it’s more than reasonable to start getting excited. Here’s what to know about the new season.
When is the new season going to be released?
All eight episodes of the new season are going to land on Netflix on October 3, 2024.
It will be released at 8am BST (British Summer Time), which is 3am ET and midnight in Western time.
What do we know about the plot?
Alice Oseman, the show’s creator, recently teased the new plot on Netflix’s Tudum site: “Season 2 ended with Nick beginning to understand the extent of Charlie’s mental health issues, and it’s this that will drive the story through season three.
“While Heartstopper will always celebrate the joyful and point towards hope, I’m really excited that we are allowing the tone of the show to mature alongside our beloved characters growing up.
“Mental health, sex, university ambitions, and more: Nick, Charlie, and the Heartstopper teens are getting older, learning more about themselves and each other, and experiencing new desires, new fears, and new joys as they approach adulthood.”
Connor teased: “The tension is high – sexual tension, love, it’s all there.”
Who is going to be in the cast?
Happily, the entire cast of Heartstopper will be returning in season three, so fans of the show can look forward to seeing Kit Connor, Joe Locke, Yasmin Finney, William Gao, Tobie Donovan, Corinna Brown, Kizzy Edgell, Sebastian Croft, Rhea Norwood and Jenny Walser back on screens.
And there will be a few new additions, too, with Charlie’s younger cousin, Oliver Spring, making a small appearance. He’ll be played by EastEnders actor Jensen Clayden.
“I’m so excited for the fans of the show to meet this beloved character from the comics!” said Oseman.
Other new faces joining the cast include Darragh Hand as classmate Michael Holden, Jonathan Bailey as academic Jack Maddox, Haley Atwell as Nick’s Aunt Diane, and Eddie Marsan as Geoff, Charlie’s therapist.
Who has made the show?
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Series three sees the return of 29-year-old showrunner and creator Alice Oseman. The accomplished writer, who signed her first book deal aged 17, has won dozens of literary and TV awards for Heartstopper and its telly adaptation.
The first and second series were directed by Welsh filmmaker Euros Lyn, whose credits include episodes of Heartstopper, Broadchurch, Sherlock, Black Mirror and Last Tango in Halifax. For the third series, Andy Newbery will be taking over. Newbery has directed episodes of Shetland, Hidden and Casualty.
English composer Adiescar Chase composes the show’s music.
What have critics said?
Though never anything but heart-warming and uplifting, detractors of the show said its portrayal of teenage life was unrealistic and over simplistic.
But others massively disagreed, arguing that Heartstopper had done something revolutionary. “Heartstopper is a deeply unconventional piece of modern TV programming, dressed up as something easy, escapist and orthodox,” said the Standard in 2023, when its second series was released.
“Young love, in this case young queer love, so often parlayed in drama as ‘the obstacle’, gets a righteous alternate reading as a transparent expression of innocence.”
Others rated its feel-good factor, describing it as “possibly the loveliest show on TV”. “By the end of its zippy eight episodes, it leaves the sensation of being on the receiving end of a solid hug,” said one reviewer.
