Back in February, I wrote about the Heartstopper graphic novels for my very first article at 60 Seconds, so I felt it was fitting I write a follow-up about the TV show adaptation as well! The Heartstopper show takes the first two novels and fits them into eight 30-minute episodes that manage to perfectly capture the charm and innocence of the books. The majority of the show translates almost exact panels, and it’s amazing to watch the books, the characters, and the story come to life.
On top of the word-for-word adaptation of scenes, we also get little animations of images from the books, such as the leaves that float around the screen whenever characters are crushing on each other. The show wisely decided to use this motif sparingly so it didn’t look like a gimmick, but it was still a good use of stylism to help the show achieve that young, quirky tone. There is some dramatization of certain characters and storylines that weren’t played out as much in the books, such as Tao’s character and the expansion of Harry’s presence in the story. Even Ben, who was never a major character in the books, gets more to do in the show to juxtapose the unhealthy relationship between Charlie and Ben versus Nick and Charlie. Both relationships are closeted, but we see how much better Nick treats Charlie and how he isn’t just using and manipulating him like Ben was. The books didn’t try to juxtapose the two, simply letting Nick and Charlie’s relationship develop at its own pace, but the change worked for the different mediums. TV shows need more engagement to keep the audience invested, especially in a character-driven contemporary story. So, while characters like Harry and Ben may have been lacking more complexity due to them playing antagonists, it still works to play into the idea that sometimes young people aren’t operating under a veil of nuance and complex thinking, they’re just looking out for themselves as best they can.
The show made good use of the short run time; it helped to keep the story tight and not feel like filler. Every episode advanced the overall story and developed the characters further without wasting time, and we can see how they’ll continue to grow in future seasons. They also plant the seeds for some darker issues that the characters go through in the books, such as Charlie’s self-destructive habits due to his past. This first season of Heartstopper stands on its own as a well-written story of young love and friendship while setting the stage for more to look forward to. Alice Oseman did an amazing job as screenwriter, and it’s apparent that the show was made by people who truly cared about the books.