So I was working with them for about a year and a half, developing the show, writing the scripts, and then Netflix came on board. They were really keen to work with me, which I was really excited about because I probably wouldn’t have done it if they’d wanted to just take it and not let me be involved. Then in 2019, after the first volume of Heartstopper came out, that was when it was optioned by See-Saw Films. I was doing that for a couple of years and then it got published. In 2016, I started the webcomic, uploading it for free online. They weren’t the main characters of that story but I knew that they had a bigger story to tell. Nick and Charlie were characters in my very first young adult novel Solitaire, which came out in 2014, and I fell in love with them as characters.

How did the whole process start? From the graphic novel all the way up until now?Īlice Oseman: Heartstopper has quite a long backstory. The Upcoming had the pleasure of speaking to Oseman ahead of the launch of the show. The lead roles are played with empathy and sensitivity whilst an ensemble cast delivers layered messages of friendship, acceptance and the reality of homophobic slurs.

The eight-episode series developed for Netflix tells the story of two teenage boys, Nick and Charlie, who meet at a boy’s grammar school and start to develop feelings for each other whilst navigating the tricky path of adolescence.Īt its centre, the story explores the vast spectrum of sexual orientation. Heartstopper is a coming-of-age drama adapted from the graphic novel by writer and producer Alice Oseman.

Heartstopper author