Oseman's boy-meets-boy love story greenlit for Netflix series

Netflix has greenlit a YA drama series produced by See-Saw Films based on Alice Oseman’s Young Adult graphic novel series Heartstopper, published by Hodder Children’s Books.

"Heartstopper", to be the Emmy, Bafta and Academy Award-winning production company’s second television commission for streaming service Netflix, will consist of eight 30-minute episodes, all written by Oseman. 

Euros Lyn, known for his work on "Sherlock" and "Doctor Who", is attached to direct. And, alongside Lyn, it will be executive produced by See-Saw’s Patrick Walters, Jamie Laurenson and Hakan Kousetta and the company’s joint-managing directors Iain Canning and Emile Sherman.

Originally launched as a web comic on Tumblr and Tapas, Oseman has published three book volumes of the Heartstopper series. The fourth volume publishes this May. 

It tells the story of Charlie and Nick, who meet at an all-boys school in Kent, become friends, and quickly discover a romance is blossoming between them. Over the series, Charlie and Nick fall head over heels for each other. Along the way they realise there is a strong community of allies and friends around them, helping them to access their authentic selves, but also teaching them there is no "right way" to come out.

Oseman said: "I am over the Moon that Heartstopper has found a place at Netflix. Netflix is totally in support of my and See-Saw’s vision for the show, and I feel incredibly lucky to get to work with a team of passionate, creative people who all adore Heartstopper and want to make it the most beautiful show we can. It’s a joy and an honour to get to re-tell Nick and Charlie’s story for TV, and I am so excited to share it not only with Heartstopper's existing readership, but also a whole new audience around the world."

Lyn added: "I’m thrilled to be directing all eight episodes of Alice Osman’s glorious Heartstopper, and can’t wait to bring the drama and humour of this joyous boy-meets-boy love story to the screen."

Walters, See-Saw Films’ executive producer, said the on-screen version of the graphic novel will "pack a real emotional punch for today’s LGBTQIA+ teens. At See-Saw, a top priority is to find stories that champion the underdog, and in Charlie and Nick we’ve been able to do exactly that. To have attached a filmmaker as uniquely talented and passionate as Euros Lyn to helm the series is a dream come true." 

Writer and illustrator Oseman published her first novel Solitaire with HarperCollins when she was 19. She published Radio Silence and I Was Born For This with HarperCollins, as well as two e-book novellas also based on characters from Solitaire, titled Nick and Charlie and This Winter. The Heartstopper series is published by Hodder Children’s Books in the UK and Scholastic in the US, as well as in 14 other translation territories worldwide.