Invisible Boys is an upcoming LGBTQIA+ television series that is based on author Holden Sheppard’s award-winning novel of the same name. The show premiers on 13 February on Stan. Our Good Reading team had an early look at the highly anticipated new series.
Adapted for the screen by director Nicholas Verso, the series is set against the backdrop of the 2017 same-sex marriage plebiscite and follows a group of gay teenagers as they navigate love, friendships, family and their sexuality in a remote coastal town of Geraldton, Western Australia.
In the first episode we’re introduced to the central character, Charlie, who is played by Joseph Zada (Total Control). From the outset we learn that Charlie has dreams to get out of his small town and become a rockstar. His home life is complicated and while his school life feels oppressive – he does have two solid best friends who are also his bandmates.
Charlie is a daring and outspoken character, and Joseph Zada does an excellent job at capturing his internal turmoil – grappling with being his authentic self in a small and repressed community. We see how this this leads to him engaging in some pretty risky behaviour, such as having sexual encounters with much older unfamiliar men. When one of his sexual encounters with a married man is interrupted by a disgruntled wife, it leads to Charlie being forced to out himself online.
The homophobia Charlie experiences as a result is devastating. But he’s an incredibly resilient character. And it was a great pleasure seeing Charlie grow into his own, from falling in love with Matt, played by Joe Klocek, to forming a tight-knit friendship with two other leading characters, Zeke and Hammer, played by Aydan Calafiore and Zach Blampied respectively. Both Zeke and Hammer grapple with their own challenges and sexuality, and especially struggle with finding acceptance among friends and family.
This is a moving series filled with incredibly tender and funny moments. Don’t miss it. Recommended for viewers 15 years and older.
READ OUR Q&A WITH HOLDEN SHEPPARD
WATCH THE TRAILER
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Holden Sheppard was born and bred in Geraldton, Western Australia. His debut novel, Invisible Boys, won multiple awards, including the 2019 WA Premier’s Prize for an Emerging Writer and the 2018 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award. Invisible Boys has been adapted for television as a Stan Original Series.
Holden’s second novel The Brink won the 2024 Ena Noel Award and the 2023 Indie Book Awards YA Category Prize. Holden’s books have been shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs), the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and the South Australian Literary Awards, and Invisible Boys was named a CBCA Notable Book.
Holden’s 2025 novel King of Dirt is his third book. He has received grant funding from the Minderoo Foundation and the WA Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries to write a forthcoming fourth novel, which is a sequel to Invisible Boys.
Holden’s writing has been widely published in books, journals and the media. He served as Deputy Chair of Writing WA from 2019 – 2023, and is an Adjunct Creative Fellow at Edith Cowan University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Honours. He featured in the 2022 ‘Bogans’ episode of the ABC television series You Can’t Ask That.
When he’s not writing or reading, Holden can be found working out at the gym, playing video games or watching footy.
He lives in Perth’s far north with his husband and his V8 ute.
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