Netflix has released the trailer for Season 3 of its hit series Heartstopper, featuring the song Vertigo by Grif, with the teaser that:
Charlie and Nick are ready to take things to the next level. As they get closer in every way, they face their relationship’s biggest challenge yet.
The blurb for Season 3 states that: ‘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 a piece for ScreenHub in 2022, Richard Watts wrote of Season 1:
‘Positive and affirming depictions of young queer life have always been important; in the current climate, they are essential. As UK charity Stonewall notes: ‘48% of pupils have had little to no positive messaging about being LGBT+ at school in the last year. However, pupils whose schools had positive messaging about being LGBT+ also had reduced suicidal thoughts and feelings – regardless of whether they are LGBT+ or not.’
‘Heartstopper won’t just inspire a new generation of shippers and a flood of tweets and Tumblr posts: it will literally save lives – as well as move older audiences (especially queer viewers whose secondary school experiences were challenging to say the least) to floods of tears.’
Read more: Heartstopper is the queer TV show we need right now
In his 4.5 star ScreenHub review of Season 2 for ScreenHub, Stephen A Russell wrote:
‘I went into the second season of Netflix dreamboat Heartstopper with a certain degree of trepidation. Was it simply too sweet and low-stakes to sustain my attention, even as I recognised the powerful salve of teenage openness I never got to experience in very different (shitter, nastier) times, and the joy of this existing for younger queer and questioning folks?
‘I needn’t have worried. Season two’s eight-episode run, adapted by Alice Oseman from her graphic novel series and directed by Euros Lyn (Doctor Who), is as lush as the first. Keeping a close hold on the tip-toeing romance between in-the-closet Nick (Kit Connor) and new boyfriend Charlie (Joe Locke), an opening comic book panel montage of their wholesome courting melted away any fear of frost. There’s plenty left to say in their story.’
Read more: Heartstopper Season 2 review: is there life left yet?
Heartstopper Season 3 premieres on Netflix on 3 October 2024.
See also: Heartstopper’s queer joy can be hard for the LGBTIQ community:
‘One of the most popular shows on Netflix right now is Heartstopper, which follows UK schoolboys Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor) as their friendship grows into something more.
‘Based on Alice Oseman’s graphic novel series of the same name, Heartstopper has been widely (and accurately) hailed as a warm hug.
‘At the same time, social media has been flooded with posts from LGBTIQ people who have experienced something else when watching the show: anger, grief, and sadness as they compared the show to their own relatively painful adolescence.
‘LGBTIQ people often have high school experiences marked by prejudice and discrimination, with 60% of young LGBTIQ Australians feeling unsafe or uncomfortable at school due to their sexual or gender identity.
‘These experiences can provide a surprisingly enduring internal blueprint: during 2017’s marriage equality postal survey, for example, many LGBTIQ people said that the intense scrutiny and stigma felt like being back in high school.’
