After its first season, teen romance series Heartstopper was nearly immediately renewed for two more seasons at once. Now, those seasons have come and gone, and nearly six months after Season 3, there’s still no word of a season renewal for the hit Netflix series. What gives?
Now, Heartstopper executive producer Patrick Walters has offered an update on the state of the series — though his news isn’t as positive as fans have been hoping. Speaking at television festival Series Mania, Walters spoke to the struggles of getting young adult TV made.
“I think it’s because the audience is specific, the worry is does it feel niche and is it speaking to a wide enough audience in this specificity?” Walters said, as reported by Deadline. “The best YA nails those young voices and the current mood of a generation in whatever way, and it’s about trying to do that in a way that allows your broadcasting partner to say, ‘Yes, and this will also connect widely.’”
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Walters also noted that “there are lots of moving parts” to getting a fourth season made and that the Heartstopper team is “working hard on it,” but that’s where the concrete news ends. He added that funding challenges have gotten worse and worse over “seasons and seasons with Heartstopper.”
“The challenge is what you need to do in this moment is to pitch something that feels specific and there is not precedent for it and it is moving the conversation on,” Walters said. “But that is a risk. Often I find you want to gravitate towards risky material and it needs that passion — but that’s a challenge.”
Needless to say, Heartstopper fans aren’t happy with the update. Series creator Alice Oseman has previously said that the show’s fourth season would likely be its last, so it’ll only take one final renewal to see Heartstopper through to its natural conclusion. Pulling the plug after Season 3 just feels wrong, especially given the series’ popularity — and fans can’t help but wonder if the renewal would’ve come quicker if Heartstopper wasn’t focused on queer characters.
For now, all we can do is keep our fingers crossed for the news of a renewal — and obsessively rewatch the first three seasons, of course.
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