Heartstopper season 3: Everything we know so far (original) (raw)
Jump to:
- When is the Heartstopper season 3 release date?
- How many seasons of Heartstopper are there?
- Heartstopper season 3 cast news
- What happens in Heartstopper season 3's plot?
- Is there a Heartstopper season 3 trailer?
Heartstopper is getting us even more excited for season three, with some casting news confirming the long-rumoured addition of none other than Jonathan Bailey.
He's now opened up about how the role came about, telling Variety that he had wanted to be part of the series and asked for a way to be involved.
The Bridgerton star – who is currently back on our screens in Polin's season three – called Heartstopper "one of the biggest, most beautiful gifts to so many people", and shared how he wished he'd had that growing up.
After seeing the impact of the Netflix show, he asked a mutual friend who knew executive producer Patrick Walters whether there was "anything I could do to help and be a part of that story."
We know that Jonathan Bailey will be taking a special guest role as Jack Maddox in season three, and the character has been described as "Charlie's Instagram-famous crush".
Marvel star Hayley Atwell and Eddie Marsan (currently on the big screen in the Amy Winehouse movie, Back to Black) have also been announced to be joining the fun for the third season.
Netflix also recently confirmed the release window for Heartstopper's highly anticipated new episodes, so we know we'll be getting more of the beloved LGBTQ+ show in October 2024.
This update came from lead stars Kit Connor and Joe Locke themselves, in a behind-the-scenes video clip. The pair were filming at a fairground, and Connor teased that things had started to get "a bit more steamy" for Nick and Charlie.
"The tension is high. It's like sexual tension, love, we're all there," he added – and fans will have been incredibly happy to hear it.
Yasmin Finney – who plays fan-favourite Elle Argent, and who we've most recently seen in Doctor Who – and William Gao (whose Heartstopper character is Tao Xu) also appeared in the teaser, to respond to the "positive reaction" that the second season inspired, and to tease their characters for season three as well.
Creator Alice Oseman has also shared what we can expect from a more mature third outing of the show, stating that the continued exploration of Charlie's mental health 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," Oseman told Netflix. "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."
With new episodes of Heartstopper coming later this year, we can hardly wait to see how Nick (Connor) and Charlie's (Locke) blossoming romance is coming along, particularly after last year's second-season finale saw them sharing their love with the world.
But while we have to wait, here's everything we know so far about Heartstopper season three.
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When is the Heartstopper season 3 release date?
We might not have an exact release date to block out in our calendars, but we do know that Heartstopper season three will fall sometime in October 2024.
Thankfully, we've known for quite a while that a third outing was on the cards. When Netflix originally announced a season-two renewal, the streamer confirmed at the same time that more would be in the show's future.
The hit series is of course based on Alice Oseman's graphic novels, and Netflix shared the above confirmation with a short clip of Oseman drawing an illustration of Charlie and Nick, along with the words: "2 more seasons."
Alice Oseman also very recently revealed that they are writing the sixth and final graphic novel in the acclaimed Heartstopper series – meaning we'll soon have an ending mapped out.
That being said, we don't yet know how many more seasons of Heartstopper we'll be treated to – although fans are hopeful for a season four on Netflix, this hasn't been officially confirmed yet.
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How many seasons of Heartstopper are there?
There are currently only two seasons of Heartstopper on Netflix, with the third now on the way.
As to whether or not there'll be a Heartstopper season four, there's been no official word or announcement at this point. With that being said, we'd be very surprised if the show wasn't to have a future beyond the end of season three, given that it's one of Netflix's most popular returning original shows – but we can only really speculate at this stage.
As for the graphic novel series, on which the televised adaptation is based, there are four volumes – with a fifth just announced by author Alice Oseman to be coming later this year.
We also know that a volume six is on the way, and that this will be the final book of the beloved series.
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Heartstopper season 3 cast news
As mentioned earlier, some new faces are on board for season three – including Jonathan Bailey, Hayley Atwell and Eddie Marsan.
Alice Oseman has shared that Atwell will join the Nelson family as Nick's Aunt Diane, who is set to take Nick on a summer holiday – although she apparently has some "tough advice" to share with him when it comes to his relationship.
As for Eddie Marsan, he'll be taking on the role of one of the beloved characters from the graphic novels: Geoff, Charlie's wise and straight-talking therapist.
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Sadly, we have also had the upsetting confirmation that Olivia Colman, aka Nick's mum, will not be taking part in the third season. Big sad face.
"I couldn't fit it in," Colman said of her schedule during an interview with Forbes. "I feel awful about that."
The actor also added that being on the show was "one of the most beautiful things I've ever been part of", and she did not rule out a return in the future – so fingers crossed!
It's safe to say Heartstopper wouldn't be the show it is without Kit Connor and Joe Locke returning as Nick and Charlie, so there was never any doubt that our central couple would be back.
As the pair take their relationship to the next level, they'll be cheered on by best friends Elle (Yasmin Finney), Tao (William Gao), Tara (Corinna Brown), Darcy (Kizzy Edgell) and Isaac (Tobie Donovan).
Another cast member who has confirmed that they will not be returning for the third season is Sebastian Croft, who played Ben. It's probably not too much of a surprise; his character arc was rounded off in season two, with him telling Charlie that he was planning on leaving after having hurt him so much.
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Charlie took the cathartic opportunity to hold Ben to account for his past toxic behaviour, and the actor has expressed gratitude that his "incredibly complicated" character wasn't given forgiveness on the show.
"Alice and I both felt strongly about him not having a redemption arc," Croft told Netflix's Tudum. "It's a really beautiful way of having these two people who have been through a lot – and Ben's been horrible to Charlie – to have that conversation and explore it on a deeper level than I felt like we got to do in season one."
Oseman also praised Croft as an "incredible friend", saying: "He took on possibly the toughest role in the show and executed it with such intelligence and determination."
The creator added: "We were in constant debate about finding the line between Ben being unrealistically demonic and too sympathetic.
"I feel we found that line and I am so proud and honoured that Sebastian has been a part of Heartstopper. I know that he'll go on to do incredible things, and I will be cheering from the sidelines all the way."
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What happens in Heartstopper season 3's plot?
Joe Locke recently shared that Charlie's eating disorder, which was first talked about in season two, is "probably the main focus" of season three's plot.
During a chat for the Dinner's On Me podcast (via Gay Times), he praised the Heartstopper writer's approach to the subject matter.
"I've never met anyone who can write such quite serious topics with such heart and such love," Locke said of Oseman. "It's almost like she writes it whilst the audience is always aware there's a light at the end of the tunnel the whole time. I don't know how she does it, because it almost allows the audience to not stress themselves out too much while also learning about a certain topic."
According to Netflix, season three's premiere episode will be titled "Love", which feels very appropriate given where we left Nick and Charlie.
By the end of the second season, Nick decided he was ready to publicly share his relationship with Charlie – posting a loved-up snap from their trip to Paris on Instagram, along with the caption: "Boyfriends (I'm bi, actually)".
We love to see it. And so did many of his classmates, as lots of supportive messages came rolling in.
Then it was time for prom, with the night ending at Nick's house with all his closest friends. Once they'd had enough of the dancing, they all left for the night – except for Charlie, which allowed for a heart-to-heart.
Nick opened up about his decision to come out, and Charlie shared his previous experience of bullying after he had come out. Charlie also opened up about his mental health struggles, including an eating disorder.
"I don't want you to think I'm some fragile, broken mess," Charlie told Nick. "Like you need to fix me. I would hate that." But he also then promised Nick that he would tell him if he was ever struggling again.
Feeling closer than ever, Nick started to list the things he "loves" about Charlie, including his "hair" and his "eyes"... but before he could go any further, his mum arrived home.
Moments later, as Charlie was walking home, smiling from ear to ear, he pulled out his phone and typed a message to Nick: "i love you".
His thumb hovered above the 'Send' button, but before we saw him hit it, the credits rolled. Talk about an adorable cliffhanger!
We have some idea of what might happen going into season three, thanks to the books.
The first season of the Netflix hit covered both the first two volumes of the novel series, and season two obviously followed Nick and Charlie on their school trip to Paris (which happens in the third volume of the books).
With that in mind, we'd expect that the show's third season will incorporate the fourth volume of the novels.
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That being said, there's always room for some changes from the source material – as Oseman has stated previously.
"I'm always very committed to preserving what is in the comics and making sure all the big, exciting moments are in the show, but honestly, there is just so much extra space around that to do whatever we want," Oseman said (via EW).
"Now that we've got seasons one and two, we've had so much development for the supporting cast: Tao, Elle, Tara, Isaac, even new characters like Imogen. There's so much new stuff that gives us so much to play with in season three.
"I feel very comfortable letting the show be its own thing. In my mind, the show and the comic feel very separate, although it's quite a faithful adaptation. I feel excited to get to expand Heartstopper for the show."
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"People who have read the books will know that there's a lot of stuff we haven't yet covered in volume four," Oseman said (via Metro). "People who've read volume four will have a little bit of an idea of what is coming."
Away from Nick and Charlie's romance, season three will likely also continue to explore Tao and Elle's relationship. How will they navigate her move to art college?
We'd also expect to see more from Isaac (Tobie Donovan), who was in the process of understanding his own identity in the second season. We saw Isaac exploring the idea of being aromantic and asexual, and Heartstopper boss Euros Lyn has teased that this journey will go into future seasons of the show.
"For Isaac, discovering this isn't the answer to all his questions; discovering this new identity is the beginning of a much more complicated journey that he'll go on in the future."
We also saw teachers Mr Ajayi (Fisayo Akinade) and Mr Farouk (Nima Taleghani) connect on the Paris trip, so we'd be hoping to find out what may have happened next for them too.
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Is there a Heartstopper season 3 trailer?
Unfortunately, it's still a little too early for a full trailer for the third season.
But we have had some behind-the-scenes features, as well as a first look at scenes from the upcoming episodes as part of the release date announcement.
For now though, all of seasons one and two are on Netflix to stream again. And again. And again.
Heartstopper seasons one and two are available to stream on Netflix.
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TV Editor, Digital Spy Laura has been watching television for over 30 years and professionally writing about entertainment for almost 10 of those. Previously at LOOK and now heading up the TV desk at the UK's biggest TV and movies site Digital Spy, Laura has helped steer conversations around some of the most popular shows on the box. Laura has appeared on Channel 5 News and radio to talk viewing habits and TV recommendations. As well as putting her nerd-level Buffy knowledge to good use during an IRL meet with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Laura also once had afternoon tea with One Direction, has sat around the fire pit of the Love Island villa, spoken to Sir David Attenborough about the world's oceans and even interviewed Rylan from inside the Big Brother house (housemate status, forever pending).