Why Heartstopper Missed a Trick Not Producing This Spin-Off
With Heartstopper Forever, Nick and Charlie’s story finally comes to an end. But one thing you might not know about the romance series is that the graphic novels, on which the show and movie are based, are actually a spin-off.
While Alice Oseman’s work today is synonymous with Nick and Charlie, they were originally side characters in a novel she wrote entitled Solitaire. The novel, which was published in 2014, marked the beginning of the Heartstopper universe.
It followed Year 12 student Tori Spring as she grappled with family stress, mental health issues, and isolation as a mysterious prankster known as 'Solitaire' causes havoc at her school. At the heart of the book is her growing connection with Year 13 oddball Michael Holden.
Tori and Michael both appear in Heartstopper, but their stories are never delved into the same way they are in the novel. And in my opinion, largely ignoring the novel that built the foundations of Heartstopper was a missed opportunity.
This article contains discussion of mental health issues and eating disorders, so please take care from this point on.
What Is Solitaire, and How Is It Different From Heartstopper?
As well as queer representation, Heartstopper also excels at examining mental health issues. As portrayed in the TV show, Charlie has an eating disorder among other things; in fact, things got so dark for him that he ended up hospitalised. Heartstopper struck the perfect balance between emphasising how opening up to those around you, including your partner, is important, while also making the point that the other person isn’t necessarily there to ‘save’ you.
Compared to Heartstopper, I’ll admit that Solitaire is a little darker. As previously mentioned, a huge plot point is Tori’s isolation and depression. The first-person narrative is tinged with sadness throughout. Several passages from the book went TikTok-viral as soundbites a few years ago, which is how I was introduced to the novel in the first place. The fact that these passages resonated so much with Gen Z (and myself, of course) is something that I believe speaks volumes about the novel itself.
In the UK, one in five young people experience some kind of mental health issue, and more awareness is always needed. With Charlie’s issues also being explored in the novel, Solitaire presents Tori as someone living with ‘high-functioning’ depression: something that, in my opinion, isn’t really shown enough on TV.
What a Solitaire Spin-Off Could Have Added to the Heartstopper Universe
Representation aside, the story of Solitaire is genuinely compelling. Arguably, it is more of a mystery than anything else, as Tori becomes increasingly fixated on finding out who Solitaire is, with the prankster’s actions becoming more radical and dangerous as the novel progresses. The mystery is a strong narrative thread that keeps you hooked all the way to a suitably thrilling climax and reveal.
Additionally, Michael, Tori’s love interest, is himself a very well-developed character with flaws and shortcomings, along with his own demons.
It should also be noted that while this is a straight relationship, it is established in Heartstopper Forever canon that Tori is asexual while Michael is queer. Exploring that aspect of their romance could have broken new ground in TV. Because of the Heartstopper timeline and the time period in which Solitaire took place, it would now make no sense to do a spin-off, since some of the events in Solitaire were so big that they would’ve surely had an impact on the main show.
Sure, the trope of two misfits finding each other is always going to be a bit corny. However, the thing that makes Tori and Michael’s relationship so compelling is the way in which Tori finds herself slowly opening up to him and, in turn, slowly opening up to the rest of the world. Again, this isn’t to say that a man solves all of Tori’s problems: far from it. But it is a sweet romance that, while unconventional in some ways, feels like a worthwhile journey to undertake with the characters.
Most of all, I feel like a Solitaire spin-off would have been a worthwhile endeavour because they already cast the perfect Tori and Michael in Heartstopper: Jenny Walser and Darragh Hand. In their relatively short on-screen appearances, they have a lot of chemistry, and Walser particularly really nails Tori’s inherent awkwardness and observant nature. We get more sweet moments of them in the film that only reinforce my belief that we missed out, although it's nice that the show and movie had some references to Solitaire, including Tori's haircut and Michael's skating.
Ultimately, throwing Solitaire into the mix might’ve made the mainline show a little less sugary-sweet. Yet the layers, complexity, and entertainment you’d get from the hybrid detective story mean that it would’ve been a worthwhile trade-off.
