Milkshakes, movie nights, incessant Instagramming and then early to bed … Heartstopper shows lovelorn teens as never before. Its creator Alice Oseman on turning her hit web comic into a joyful queer love story for TV
Heartstopper is the anti-Euphoria. The upcoming Netflix teen drama – about a budding romance between two school friends – is as wholesome and uplifting as the headline-grabbing US high-school sensation is bleak and ridiculously debauched. Heartstopper’s 15-year-olds don’t take drugs, drink alcohol, have sex, swear or even argue with their parents. Instead, they go out for milkshakes, perform dutifully in school music concerts and have chaste movie nights. They are sweet, chronically polite and partial to an early night – a world away from the contemporary teen TV stereotype.
But Heartstopper is also quietly radical. The show, which is set in the UK, is a gay love story aimed at young viewers. Sensitive, incessantly apologetic swot Charlie meets charming rugby star Nick in class, and the spark between them slowly blossoms into love. It’s a flirtation punctuated by much classically British romcom awkwardness, reams of Instagram messages and plenty of panicked Googling.
