Patrick Walters on Heartstopper's impact and a "really different" season 2

The love story between Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) – first depicted in graphic novels by Alice Oseman – was targeted primarily at a young audience, but wound up attracting a broad age range to its first season.

For older viewers, it was a bittersweet experience. There was catharsis in knowing that a show like Heartstopper exists for today's queer youth, but some lamentation that there was nothing comparable for earlier generations such as themselves.

Indeed, Walters has been working in television production for only a decade – a relatively short period in comparison to industry veterans – but even that time has seen major change in attitudes towards LGBTQ+ storytelling on screen.

"When I started out, it didn't feel like a show like Heartstopper was possible," he told RadioTimes.com as Pride Month got underway. "It felt like if I’d tried to get traction with that sort of a story, I would have been told that the audience wouldn't be there for something like that."

So what's changed? "I think what makes a massive difference is that there are lots of out commissioners," explains Walters, naming former BBC Drama boss and current A24 exec Piers Wenger as a personal inspiration. "There are now people with lived experience who want to see these stories... you need those people to be in the decision-making seats."

That's not to say that getting an LGBTQ+ show commissioned – whether on streaming or for a legacy broadcaster – is suddenly a cakewalk. For example, Russell T Davies has spoken quite candidly about his difficulty finding a home for It's A Sin, a hard-hitting AIDS drama which ultimately became a runaway hit for Channel 4.

Walters concurs that it's still "quite lucky" to pitch to someone with an innate understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, with Heartstopper being a "serendipitous" case. He partnered with Oseman to make the argument for a show that represented an opportunity to break entirely new ground – and Netflix leapt at the chance.

"We were able to say there's a real need for this in terms of social impact. I never had a show like this and lots of generations before me didn't have that show," he said. "So why don't you give that to them on a platform that is global?"

On the enormous reach of the streaming service, Walters added: "Some of the places where Heartstopper has been in the Top 10 on the Netflix charts are places where homosexuality is criminalised and not accepted to the point of everyday violence.

"So giving these communities the representation that they deserve on a global scale is absolutely vital. I think when you see a show like Heartstopper connect, you see the power of that message."

It must be tempting for executives to sit back and bask in Heartstopper's success, content that they've done their bit for the LGBTQ+ community – a potential scenario that Walters fears. Instead, he calls for many more shows with "queer-mindedness" and "authenticity in their DNA", as opposed to the token representation often provided by larger-scale productions.

"In these incredibly high-budget shows, I don't think you're seeing the kind of diversity and the breadth of human experience that you could," continues Walters. "As the dollar signs rack up in terms of the execution, I think the identities that are at the core of a show like Heartstopper start – in the commissioners' mind – to feel potentially a bit niche or smaller, like they cater to a narrower slice, and I just don't think that's true.

"So I think we're going in the right direction, but I think that's the next frontier: where we start to feel like there's a normalcy to these stories."

The popularity of Heartstopper should serve as an incentive to produce further LGBTQ+ fare, demonstrating the financial viability of such stories. However, Walters has hope that a sense of social responsibility will also factor into commissioning decisions, urging those in power to use their platform for progress in the face of an ugly culture war that shows no signs of stopping.

Indeed, Heartstopper's success was something of an anomaly when you consider the atmosphere of 2022. It was the year that Florida governor Ron DeSantis became mired in controversy for his "Don't Say Gay" bill, which prohibits discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity at schools in the state.

If that seems like a distant concern, it was only last year that Labour MP Nadia Whittome accused the Conservative leadership race of devolving into “a contest of who can attack trans people most”. And more recently, DeSantis claimed that former Prime Ministerial hopeful Kemi Badenoch "complimented" his so-called "war on woke" in an April meeting.

Asked whether executives are conscious of the hostility that LGBTQ+ people currently face, Walters said: "I really hope that they are, because I feel like there's so much toxicity in the debate online and in the press. And actually, when it boils down to it, the audience is there for these stories all over the world.

"They're profitable and can play a really great part in the industry that we’re all in, but they can also serve a really vital social role that hopefully combats some of the stuff that you're talking about, which can be so depressing."

The flame that Heartstopper sparked last summer has been kept alive by shows including Feel Good, Waterloo Road and I Kissed a Boy, with Walters saying "it feels like the nuance and the context of gay lives is just coming into view".

Later this summer, Heartstopper itself returns for a second season, which is poised to super-charge the conversation once more.

Oseman has previously teased a somewhat darker story for the sophomore run, with mental health being a key focus as Nick faces his "nasty" brother and absent father for the first time since coming out as bisexual. Walters gave some additional insight into what fans can expect.

"We had a lot of conversations about not wanting to retread old territory and make another season of the same kind of thing," he began. "We wanted each season of Heartstopper to feel really distinct and have its own point of view.

"I think season 1 is so successful, because it's a will-they-won't-they and it plays on the mainly straight tropes of the romcom genre to deliver you a really uplifting queer romance. But I think for season 2, what we found really exciting was to go, ‘Okay, so you get your happy ever after, but then what? How does the relationship evolve?’"

Walters added: "Letting someone into all your fears and your doubts and all of the things that aren't in the fairytale canon – that actually shows real humanity. And so, I think we just follow the truthfulness of what the story was and I'm really proud of it because I think it feels really different to the first season, but it is still consistently the show that everyone loves."

Heartstopper season 3 has already been confirmed by Netflix, with Walters staying coy about how far the series could continue beyond that point. In any case, conveying the queer experience will remain a priority for the producer moving forward.

He concluded: "I'm really passionate about LGBT storytelling and I can't imagine not working on shows that have a queer perspective on them. That's been a gift that Heartstopper has been able to give me, so I'm really grateful."

Heartstopper is available to stream on Netflix. Season 2 coming on Thursday 3rd August. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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