Heartstopper Season 3 Eyes Fall Premiere at Netflix: Plus, Get ‘Hi’ On a First Look Behind the Scenes

Netflix plans to give us the warm fuzzies this fall: On Wednesday, the streamer announced via a behind-the-scenes video that Season 3 of Heartstopper will premiere in October.

LGBTQ+ TV Characters 2022
LGBTQ+ TV Characters 2022

10 LGBTQ+ Characters Who Proudly Made Waves on TV This Past Year

View List

For the uninitiated, the Emmy-winning LGBTQ+ coming-of-age dramedy is based on Alice Oseman’s webcomic and graphic-novel series of the same name. We like it. A lot. It follows the romance of schoolboys Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) and the relationships of those in their friend group. In the Season 2 finale (recapped here), the former came thisclose to dropping the L word on his sweetheart. (Via text, but still!)

More from TVLine

In Season 3, per the official logline: “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 realize 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.”

Says creator/writer Oseman: “I cannot wait for the third season of Heartstopper to be released… 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.

“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,” she adds. “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.”

In addition to Locke and Connor, the cast of Season 3 — which has Andy Newbery taking over directing duties from EP Euros Lyn — includes William Gao and Yasmin Finney as newly minted couple Tao and Elle, Corinna Brown and Kizzy Edgell as “best gal pals” and then some Tara and Darcy, Tobie Donovan as troubled Isaac, Leila Khan and Rhea Norwood as old friends (and new something mores?) Sahar and Imogen, and Jenny Walser as Charlie’s sister, fan fave Tori.

In November, Oseman shared via Instagram that Season 3 would also introduce a key character from her first novel, Solitaire. “We’re thrilled to be welcoming Darragh Hand as Michael Holden to the Heartstopper family,” she wrote. “Michael is a quirky, eccentric optimist with a sunshine disposition, and it was a challenge to find someone who I felt truly channelled Michael from the books. But then Darragh came along and warmed our hearts, made us all laugh so much and perfectly complimented Jenny Walser’s Tori… ”

Press PLAY on the video at the top of the post to check out a sneak peek at Season 3. Then hit the comments with your hopes/fears for the eight episodes to come.

Best of TVLine

Get more from TVLine.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter