Heartstopper creator shares favourite season three moment that wasn’t in the books
Alice Oseman has revealed which scene in season three of Heartstopper makes her feel “super proud” – even though it wasn’t in her original books.
The latest episodes of the queer teen romance, which landed on Netflix last week, keeps close to the source material in follows volumes four and five of Oseman’s graphic novels, but there are some key differences. One of those changes comes in episode four, which has been dubbed one of the show’s best-ever.
Although the episode follows what happens to Charlie after he reveals that he’s struggling with an eating disorder, it also tracks how boyfriend, Nick copes.
On-screen, Nick goes to a Halloween party, dressed as Captain America, something Oseman never put down on the page.
Asked by PinkNews whether she has a favourite moment from the new season which wasn’t lifted from the books, she replied instantly: “Absolutely, and it’s Halloween.
“I love Halloween and I was like: ‘OK, I must get Halloween into the show because there’s not a Halloween in the comics’. Also just the scene itself, it being such a chaotic and painful moment for Nick. It was really fun to write, and I think they enjoyed filming. It looks amazing. I wanted to spend forever in that set.”
Despite the moment never appearing the novels, fans did have an inkling that season three would feature a Halloween moment. Last year, on 31 October, the author shared an illustration of Nick in his costume and Charlie, dressed as Spider-Man, sitting on his lap. “I drew that while we were filming them,” Oseman tells PinkNews exclusively.
Despite the spooky setting, the scene is more heart-breaking than horrifying, with Nick breaking down in the arms of his friend Tao as he struggles with life while Charlie is undergoing treatment.
Kit Connor’s performance as Nick is one of the reasons fans have praised the scene so highly, and Oseman “definitely” knew while filming that episode four would be a special one.
“We knew it was going to be something different, and we really embraced that. We were really excited about it, just to do something new that we’d never done before in Heartstopper, break the form in such a big way,” she said. “It turned out well.
“It was very difficult to film. I think in a normal Heartstopper episode, we have like 40 scenes, in that episode there [are] 70. So, it was a real challenge for everyone in the cast and crew, but it came together so well. I’m super proud of it.”
Alice Oseman was speaking at the unveiling of the Heartstopper Pride flag at the Queer Britain museum in London’s King’s Cross.
The flag, created by The Great British Sewing Bee‘s Raph Dilhan, features messages from the show’s fans about how the series has affected their lives. It is on display at until 19 October.
Season three of Heartstopper season is streaming on Netflix now.
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