Kit Connor as Nick and Joe Locke as Charlie in Heartstopper season 3. (© Samuel Dore/Netflix)

Heartstopper Season 3: What To Know Before You Tune In

Kit Connor as Nick and Joe Locke as Charlie in Heartstopper season 3. (© Samuel Dore/Netflix)

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Heartstopper Season 3: What To Know Before You Tune In

By Charlie Colville

3 months ago

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Missing Heartstopper? Not for long; the show is set to come back to Netflix next month for a third instalment. Expect plenty more lovey-dovey plotlines, Narlie moments and even a few new characters – here’s everything we know so far about Heartstopper season 3.

Heartstopper Season 3: Plot, Cast, Release Date & More

What Is Heartstopper About?

Heartstopper is a coming-of-age romcom drama TV series that follows the budding relationship between Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and Nick Nelson (Kit Connor), two teenage boys at an all-boys grammar school. After striking up an unlikely friendship, Charlie starts to fall for Nick – and while initially he believes he doesn’t have a chance with his schoolmate, he soon finds that his feelings are not unrequited.

The series primarily follows Charlie and Nick’s relationship, but it also looks into the lives of other members in their friend group, including Tao (William Gao), Elle (Yasmin Finney), Isaac (Tobie Donovan), Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell).

Kit Connor as Nick and Joe Locke as Charlie in Heartstopper season 3. (© Samuel Dore/Netflix)

What Happens In Heartstopper Season 3?

After season 2’s emotional finale, we’re expecting another season packed with joy and love as Nick and Charlie continue to navigate their relationship alongside the trials and tribulations of teenagerdom. At the end of season 2, a euphoric prom and after party ended with a heartrending conversation between Nick and Charlie, as Nick finally asked about the homophobic bullying Charlie experienced before the two met. The pain was so intense, Charlie shares he would self-harm at times. The boys share a teary embrace with Charlie promising to tell Nick if he ever feels that way again. As he strolls home phone in hand, Charlie types out a message to Nick: ‘I love you’. But the screen cuts to black before we find out if he taps that all-important ‘send’ button.

This grappling with the ‘L’ word is a key plot point in season 3, and series creator Oseman has hinted that we have slightly more mature themes this season too, as the characters begin to reach adulthood. ‘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 3,’ she told Netflix. ‘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.’

‘I’m so excited because it’s going to feel like a really different season, and I love that we are doing something different,’ Oseman added. ‘It would be easy to be like, “Oh, Heartstopper Season 3, let’s just do the same kind of thing that we’ve always done. People like it.” But we are doing something that will feel very different, and people will be surprised, and I can’t wait.’

The official season 3 synopsis from Netflix is as follows: ‘Charlie would like to tell Nick that he loves him. Nick also has something important to say to Charlie. As the summer holiday ends and the months race on, the friends begin to realise that the school year will come with both its joys and its challenges. As they learn more about each other and their relationships, plan social events and parties and start thinking about university choices, everyone must learn to lean on those they love when life doesn’t go to plan.’

In an interview with C&TH, Corinna Brown, who plays Tara, shared: ‘The characters get more mature, the themes [of the show] are getting more mature. It goes into Charlie’s life and the things that he’s going through. While still revolving around the friendship group. It’s very much still Heartstopper though, with all that sentiment and feeling! But we delve into more adult things. I think I can say that they’ve started looking at uni options. More in a way you would at that age.’

Take a peek at the action below…

Is It Based On A Book?

Heartstopper is based on a popular webcomic and graphic novel created by Alice Oseman. Season 1 is primarily based on volumes 1 and 2 of Oseman’s comic, while season 2 was mostly adapted from volume 3. Season 3, which is scheduled for release later this year, is based on Volume 4.

The Heartstopper series is made up of six volumes, with the final one still yet to be released. If you can’t get enough of Oseman’s universe, there’s plenty of content to read, including the auhor’s debut, Solitaire, which tells Tori’s story.

Alice Oseman (c) Marcus Laing for Netflix

Introducing Jack Maddox, Aunt Diane & Geoff

Heartstopper loves a cameo, and we have three big ones this season: Eddie Marsan, Jonathan Bailey and former C&TH cover star Hayley Atwell. ‘It was an absolute joy to see Hayley, Eddie, and Jonathan’s talent alongside our existing cast, and I can’t wait for the Heartstopper fans to meet these new characters,’ author Alice Oseman told Netflix on the news.

Marsan will be playing Geoff, Charlie’s wise and straight-talking therapist and a beloved character amongst fans of the comics; Bailey will be taking on the role of Jack Maddox, an Instagram-famous classicist and Charlie’s celebrity crush (a very fitting casting, we must say); and Atwell will be stepping into the shoes of Nick’s aunt, Diane, who takes Nick on a summer holiday to Menorca and ‘has some tough advice to impart about his relationship’ according to Oseman.

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They will also be joined by another series newcomer, Darragh Hand, who will play Michael Holden, a love interest for Charlie’s older sister, Tori, who we meet in Oseman’s novel Solitaire (2014).

Heartstopper Cast

The majority of the season 1 and 2 cast will also be reprising their roles. The full cast list is as follows:

Kit Connor as Nick Nelson
Joe Locke as Charlie Spring
Eddie Marsan as Geoff, Charlie’s therapist
Yasmin Finney as Elle Argent
William Gao as Tao Xu
Corinna Brown as Tara Jones
Jonathan Bailey as Jack Maddox, Charlie’s celebrity crush
Hayley Atwell as Diane, Nick’s aunt
Kizzy Edgell as Darcy Olsson
Tobie Donovan as Isaac Henderson
Jenny Walser as Tori Spring
Darragh Hand as Michael Holden
Cormac Hyde-Corrin as Harry Greene
Rhea Norwood as Imogen Heaney
Fisayo Akinade as Mr Ajayi
Chetna Pandya as Coach Singh
Jack Barton as David Nelson
Leila Khan as Sahar Zahid
Nima Taleghani as Mr Farouk
Bradley Riches as James McEwan

You might notice a couple of names missing from that list, one being Sebastian Croft who plays complicated Truham student, Ben. In the season 2 finale, Ben apologised to Charlie for how he treated him and revealed he was leaving Truham – and he really did. That scene was Croft’s final Heartstopper scene, but fans of the graphic novels know Ben only appears in Volume 1. ‘As Season 2 begins to unpack the trauma that Charlie carries with him due to his toxic relationship with Ben and the bullying he has faced in the past, I felt Ben’s presence was necessary to properly address those topics,’ Oseman explained on keeping Croft on board. But his character arc is truly over, and he won’t appear in season 3.

Tobie Donovan as Isaac Henderson, Darragh Hand as Michael Holden and Joe Locke as Charlie Spring. (© Samuel Dore/Netflix)

Will Olivia Colman Star In Heartstopper Season 3?

Sadly, Olivia Colman will not be returning for the third season of Heartstopper due to scheduling conflicts. ‘I couldn’t do number three. I couldn’t fit it in. I feel awful about that,’ Colman told Variety. ‘I feel like I was part of one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever been part of.’ We’re sad to see her go…