‘Heartstopper’ Season 4 Future In Doubt? Alice Oseman Shares New Update

The team behind Heartstopper is still working hard to secure Netflix’s planned fourth and final season order. Since season 3 dropped back in early October 2024, all has been quiet on the future beyond Alice Oseman’s well-publicized statements about intentions for season 4. This week, we got a new update on what’s happening behind the scenes with Oseman sharing that she’s “optimistic” and “hopeful”.  

Oseman has been vocal about her hopes for a final season at Netflix to conclude the story. As of September 2024, she was working on the sixth and final volume of the Heartstopper graphic novel series and has expressed a desire for the book to be released before any potential fourth season airs, ensuring that readers experience the story’s conclusion in its original format first. Speaking to The Guardian, Oseman said, “I’m only 50 pages in, but I know what’s going to happen, what all the dialogue will be, and now I’m just sitting down and drawing it, which is my favorite bit. I’m really excited about what’s going to happen towards the end of the story, but it’s also very bittersweet. I also feel it’s absolutely the right time for it to end. It’s very sad, but it’s time.”

Oseman has also indicated that if a fourth season is commissioned, it would adapt the final volume and the “Nick and Charlie” novella, serving as the series’ conclusion. Writing on Patreon, Oseman said, “If we get a fourth season of the show, it will use volume 6 of Heartstopper and the Nick and Charlie novella as the source material. I am very much hoping that there will be a fourth season so the show gets to have a proper ending! I’m praying to the gods! Begging on my knees! Having nightmares about it regularly, etc!”

Of course, since October 2024, all has been quiet on the renewal of Heartstopper. Things have been silent on the future, unlike with seasons 2 and 3, which were ordered soon after season 1 premiered. When shows go quiet beyond 3-6 months at Netflix, that usually only means one thing… 

That’s until now. Shared on TikTok, Alice Oseman was in conversation with William Hussey at the Waterstones Children’s Book Festival, where Oseman shared insights into where the show currently stands:

“I’m working very hard behind the scenes to get us a renewal for Heartstopper. It is still ongoing, we don’t have a final answer yet, but there are so many people behind the scenes who are working really hard to make it happen. We’re feeling optimistic, we’re feeling hopeful, and hopefully we’ll be able to share some news about that sometime soon. Fingers crossed. Thank you so much for watching!”

We had our fingers crossed that Next on Netflix UK would confirm a renewal in January 2025. However, the show was entirely absent from the London presentation, with not even a mention when looking back at their 2024 successes. Furthermore, we couldn’t find any reference to the show anywhere in the lobby, which was chock full of Netflix references. 

What’s taking so long for Netflix to pull the trigger? It’s not entirely clear. It could be that the show isn’t ready behind the scenes for a greenlight or that Netflix isn’t entirely confident in renewing the show. Viewership of the series declined between seasons 2 and 3, suffering a 30% drop by our count. You can see that drop using the two graphs below:

For those desperate for more Heartstopper content, the official Tumblr page for the novels is still regularly updated, with the last strip uploaded on February 11th. 

Are you hoping that Netflix will bring Heartstopper back for a final season? Let us know in the comments down below.