Imagine a ‘fan’ sending 41,071 emails, 350 hours of voicemail, 744 tweets, 106 pages of letters, and 46 Facebook messages to an aspiring comedian. That’s what Scottish comedian Richard Gadd received in a period of four-and-half-years from his stalker, an older woman named Martha. It is this true story that becomes the subject of the Netflix drama-thriller miniseries Baby Reindeer — titled after the name by which Martha addressed Gadd.
Released on 11 April 2024 with almost little to no buzz around it, the seven-episode miniseries has become a surprise hit with fans of Netflix documentaries or crime shows as well as critics. It enjoys a rating of 100 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes (as of 18 April 2024) and was watched by 2.6 million viewers in the first few days of its release.
Everything to know about Baby Reindeer
What is Baby Reindeer about?
Baby Reindeer revolves around an aspiring comedian named Donny Dunn, whose life is turned upside down by a woman named Martha.
In the show, Donny first comes across Martha during his shift as a bartender when he shows an act of kindness to the woman. But the troubled Martha becomes obsessed with Donny and begins to follow him wherever he goes, including his house and comedy gigs.
Her obsessive stalking puts Donny in a mental spiral, from which he is unable to escape. His life becomes chaotic and he turns increasingly paranoid. Even though it is about stalking, Baby Reindeer is not a true crime series.
Baby Reindeer cast
Richard Gadd is the creator of Baby Reindeer and also plays the main role of Donny Dunn, the character based on him. Jessica Gunning plays Martha, who is based on the unnamed real-life woman who stalked Gadd. Gadd has never revealed the real name of his stalker reportedly for legal reasons.
Nava Mau plays Teri, an American therapist and trans woman with whom Donny tries to build a relationship. Tom Goodman-Hill portrays television writer and Donny’s potential mentor Darrien.
The miniseries is directed by Weronika Tofilska and produced by Matthew Mulot.
The true story of Baby Reindeer
Everything that is depicted in Baby Reindeer actually happened to Richard Gadd. Minor changes include the closeness of the age gap between Donny and Martha, whereas the woman in real life was almost two decades older than Gadd.
Apart from the numerous written texts, the stalker also sent Gadd gifts including a reindeer toy, underwear, sleeping pills, a woolly hat, and boxer shorts.
“It’s very emotionally true, obviously: I was severely stalked and severely abused. But we wanted it to exist in the sphere of art, as well as protect the people it’s based on,” Gadd told The Guardian.
The woman used stalked Gadd everywhere since their first meeting in 2015 in the London pub where he worked. He had simply offered her a free cup of tea at the time.
She found out where he was performing and went to the gigs announcing herself as his girlfriend. She waited hours outside his house and also harassed his ex-girlfriend. When he changed his home out of fear and she could not find his new address, the woman started harassing Gadd’s parents.
All of these affected Gadd’s performances at his shows, which is how it is depicted through the character of Donny in Baby Reindeer.
As for the emails, Netflix has confirmed that the show also presents the exact emails sent by the woman to Gadd.
Stalking isn’t the only part of Baby Reindeer. In fact, the show also reveals how Gadd was sexually assaulted by an older man years before the stalking by the woman began.
There is also the presentation of him coming to terms with his bisexuality, as Donny falls in love with Teri and how that relationship was destroyed due to the stalker.
Gadd first revealed everything on the stage
All the disturbing details that Gadd has shown about his own life in the Netflix series Baby Reindeer were first presented by him on stage as a stand-up comedy gig, titled Monkey See Monkey Do, in 2016 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
It won the Edinburgh Comedy Award that year and practically gave a new lease of life to Gadd.
“I remember cracking up, because it was all going so badly, and the producer said, ‘What do you want from this, man?’ And I turned to him with tears in my eyes, and said, ‘I just want to make it out alive.’ Little did I know that it would provide a lifeline for me. The way people received that show, and received me, and accepted what happened to me: it saved my life. It’s mad that it happened that way,” he told The Guardian.
Baby Reindeer is the screen adaptation of the one-man stage show.
Is Martha truly evil?
Though the show is about Martha stalking Donny and making the latter’s life hell, Gadd ensured that he didn’t present the woman on whom the stalker is based as some kind of evil person.
He told The Independent in 2019 that he didn’t present her negatively because he believes she is mentally ill.
“It would have been wrong to paint her as a monster, because she’s unwell, and the system’s failed her,” he said, pointing out his realisation that the UK system has no resources to help women like his stalker who are in need.
“But stalking is a mental illness. I really wanted to show the layers of stalking with a human quality I hadn’t seen on television before. It’s a stalker story turned on its head. It takes a trope and turns it on its head,” he told Netflix’s Tudum ahead of the show’s release.
Gadd highlighted how shocked he was that she didn’t receive any help from the authorities, which he put down to cuts to public services in the UK.
Gunning has supported Gadd’s view. She told Tudum, “If you ever try to play her as a villain, I think you would ruin what a brilliant job Richard has done of the writing.”
He also never reported his sexual assault to the police but sought their help with the stalking incident.
However, instead of finding assistance, Gadd realised that the policing system in the UK was broken and there was no hope for people like him.
Gadd’s realisation is presented on the screen through the experiences of Donny with the cops. According to The Guardian, Baby Reindeer shows that the police just couldn’t believe that Martha could harm Donny even though she did turn violent.
Eventually, despite how Martha’s fate is depicted in the show, Gadd has never revealed what happened to the real-life woman the character is based on. All he has said is that he has “mixed feelings” about it.
Watch Baby Reindeer on Netflix
Image: Courtesy of Netflix
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– Is Baby Reindeer really a true story?
Yes, Baby Reindeer is based on the true story of Scottish comedian Richard Gadd.
– What is the miniseries Baby Reindeer about?
Baby Reindeer is about a stalking incident in which an older woman made the life of an aspiring comedian a living hell and how it affected both.
– Is Baby Reindeer a comedy?
No, Baby Reindeer is not a comedy. However, given that the lead character is based on a comedian, it has some comic elements.
– What happens at the end of Baby Reindeer?
Martha receives a nine-month prison sentence and a five-year restraining order in Baby Reindeer for stalking Donny. But the exact fate of the real-life woman on which the character is based remains unknown.
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