Heartstopper is a British coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama television series on Netflix, written and created by Alice Oseman and based on her webcomic and graphic novel of the same name. The series primarily tells the story of Charlie Spring (Joe Locke), a gay schoolboy who falls in love with classmate Nick Nelson (Kit Connor), whom he sits next to in his new form. It also explores the lives of their friends Tao Xu (William Gao), Elle Argent (Yasmin Finney), Isaac Henderson (Tobie Donovan), Tara Jones (Corinna Brown) and Darcy Olsson (Kizzy Edgell).

The television rights for the series were purchased by See-Saw Films in 2019 and Netflix acquired distribution rights in 2021. Euros Lyn was enlisted as the director. Filming took place from April to June that year, with teasers released throughout the timeframe. Various pre-existing songs were used as the series' soundtrack, in addition to an original score by Adiescar Chase. The cinematographic styles and colour grading were planned ahead to give the series an atmospheric elegance, amplified by the use of traditional animation adapted from the source material.

The first season of Heartstopper was released on 22 April 2022 and the second on 3 August 2023. The series has received critical acclaim, particularly for its tone, pacing and portrayal of LGBT people, with the first season receiving nine nominations and five wins for the inaugural ceremony of the Children's and Family Emmy Awards. It gained instant popularity, being among the top ten most-watched English-language series on Netflix within two days of release. It also increased the popularity of the graphic novels and the songs featured in the series. A third season is already in development, having been announced along with the second one.

Cast and characters

Main

• Kit Connor as Nick Nelson, a popular Year 11 rugby player at Truham Grammar School seated next to Charlie in form class

• Joe Locke as Charlie Spring, a Year 10 student at Truham Grammar School who was recently outed

• William Gao as Tao Xu, Charlie's protective best friend

• Yasmin Finney as Elle Argent, Charlie, Tao and Isaac's friend who transferred to Higgs Girls School after she came out as transgender

• Corinna Brown as Tara Jones, a student at Higgs Girls School who befriends Elle

• Kizzy Edgell as Darcy Olsson, Tara's girlfriend and a friend of Elle's

• Tobie Donovan as Isaac Henderson, an asexual quiet member of Charlie, Tao and Elle's friend group

• Jenny Walser as Tori Spring, Charlie's older sister

• Sebastian Croft as Ben Hope (Seasons 1–2), Charlie's first, clandestine relationship

• Cormac Hyde-Corrin as Harry Greene, a boy on the rugby team who is a homophobic bully

• Rhea Norwood as Imogen Heaney, one of Nick's friends who has a crush on him in Season 1

• Fisayo Akinade as Nathan Ajayi, an Art teacher who looks out for Charlie

• Chetna Pandya as Coach Singh, the rugby coach who looks out for Charlie

• Olivia Colman as Sarah Nelson, Nick and David's mother

• Jack Barton as David Nelson (Season 2), Nick's older brother

• Leila Khan as Sahar Zahid (Season 2), a new student at Higgs Girls School who befriends Elle, Darcy and Tara

• Nima Taleghani as Youssef Farouk (Season 2), a stern teacher for exams who is Mr Ajayi's new love interest

• Bradley Riches as James McEwan (Season 2, recurring; Season 1, guest), a student at Truham Grammar School who has a crush on Isaac

Recurring

• Araloyin Oshunremi as Otis Smith, a boy on the rugby team

• Evan Ovenell as Christian McBride, a boy on the rugby team

• Ashwin Viswanath as Sai Verma, a boy on the rugby team

• Georgina Rich as Jane Spring, Charlie and Tori's mother

• Joseph Balderrama as Julio Spring, Charlie and Tori's father

• Momo Yeung as Yan Xu, Tao's mother

• Alan Turkington as Mr Lange, a history teacher and Nick and Charlie's form tutor

• Stephen Fry as the voice of Headmaster Barnes, the Headteacher of Truham Grammar School

• Bel Priestley as Naomi Russell (Season 2), a transgender student at the art school Elle applies to

• Ash Self as Felix (Season 2), a student at the art school whom Elle befriends

• Thibault de Montalembert as Stéphane Nelson (Season 2), Nick and David's father, Sarah's ex-husband

• Rachael Stirling as Amanda Olsson (Season 2), Darcy's homophobic and abusive mother

Production

Writing and pre-production

In 2016, Alice Oseman started a webcomic titled Heartstopper which later expanded to a graphic novel after gaining a cult following. Sometime in 2019, See-Saw Films asked Oseman if she could try writing a screenplay. The production company had been suggested by its own executive producer Patrick Walters, who helped with Oseman's Kickstarter campaign in 2018. She expressed interest in doing it, noting the lack of wholesome, teenage LGBT representation on television, hoping that this could potentially assure LGBT youth "that they can find happiness and find romance and find friendship". She wrote a screenplay based on the first two volumes of the graphic novel. See-Saw Films liked it and optioned the television rights later that July.

On 20 January 2021, it was revealed that Netflix had ordered Heartstopper as an eight-episode half-hour series. It was deemed the best platform by Oseman and Walters due to its global availability. Euros Lyn was enlisted as director and executive producer. He had not read the original source material and called the screenplay riveting. Netflix "Kids & Family content" director Patrick Wheeleer said that the story "deserves to be told" due to its relatability among the young demographic. Walters served as executive producer for the series, alongside Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, with Zorana Piggott as producer. During production, the programme had a working titles of Evergreen for its first season and Electric for its second season.

Casting

To provide an authentic depiction, Oseman wanted actual young people to portray the characters. Daniel Edwards-Guy served as casting director. An open casting call went out in January and February 2021 for five of the main characters and three of the recurring cast. Oseman explained that the character Aled Last would not appear in the adaptation to respect his story in another novel within the Heartstopper universe, Radio Silence. After over 10,000 people auditioned via Zoom, she announced the first round of casting decisions in April 2021, with Kit Connor and Joe Locke starring as Nick and Charlie respectively. Heartstopper marked Locke's acting debut. After agreeing that Locke suited Charlie's role, Connor was auditioned and the production team found a chemistry between the two; the actors themselves recalled only taking a few hours to bond.

The rest of the cast members were announced days later and included Yasmin Finney, Sebastian Croft, William Gao, Corinna Brown, Kizzy Edgell, Cormac Hyde-Corrin, Rhea Norwood and Tobie Donovan. Jenny Walser joined in the cast in May 2021. The final audition was conducted face-to-face. Having worked with her previously, Lyn reached out to Olivia Colman after Oseman expressed an interest in a notable actress to portray Sarah; Colman accepted the offer. It was also noted that fans of the webcomic and graphic novel agreed that Colman was suited for the series. Lyn said that Colman's "instinctive" and "warm" character was a good fit for Nick's mother Sarah.

On 8 July 2022, an open casting call was announced for a 16-year-old character named Sahar Zahid, a British female or non-binary person of South Asian descent. That September, it was announced that Leila Khan would play the role and much of the lead cast would return for the second season. Other roles announced included Jack Barton as David Nelson, Nick's older brother; Bradley Riches as Truham student James McEwan; and Nima Taleghani as schoolteacher Mr Farouk. On 4 November 2022, it was announced that Colman, Chetna Pandya, Fisayo Akinade and Alan Turkington would reprise their roles in the second season, along with new casting including Bel Priestley and Ash Self as Elle's new friends Naomi and Felix respectively, with Thibault de Montalembert as Nick's father Stéphane.

In August 2023, shortly after the release of the second season, it was confirmed that Sebastian Croft would be exiting the series, given that his storyline had come to its conclusion.

Release

Heartstopper's one-minute teaser was released on 16 March 2022. Collider then announced that its tagline was: "Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love." Hilary Remley, who wrote the news, saw the teaser as teasing the series' "emotionally vulnerable" air, "showing the experience of teenage love in a direct and sincere way", assured that audiences will enjoy the final product due to its faithfulness to the source material's dreamlike aesthetic. The series' episode titles were released on 19 April, before the series' episodes were released on 22 April 2022.

When asked whether there would be a second season, Walters said that they were looking forward to it, seeing that the executives of Netflix seemed to "understand" the series. Locke and Connor had also expressed anticipation for a renewal, noting the narrative progression in the series' source material. On 20 May 2022, following Netflix's review of the 28-day viewing figures, it was announced that the series had been renewed for two more series. The second season was released on 3 August 2023; the opening scene and season titles were revealed prior on 18 June 2023, and a trailer on 25 July. Meanwhile, a third season is in development.