Netflix’s new series Baby Reindeer is trending on the streaming platform, and for good reason. The drama, which stars award-winning comedian and actor Richard Gadd playing a version of himself, follows a struggling comedian relentlessly stalked by a woman named Martha. But did you know that it is based on a true story? Here’s everything you need to know…
Richard will play Donny Dunn, who is based on himself - and his own experiences with a stalker. The female stalker regularly pursued him for several years, leaving him living in fear and frustration as he was unable to ascertain a restraining order while she technically kept within the confines of the law, while sending him countless messages and voicemails - over 41,000 in three years.
The synopsis for the show reads: “Baby Reindeer follows struggling comedian Donny Dunn’s warped relationship with his female stalker and the impact it has on him as he is ultimately forced to face a deeply buried trauma.”
Richard has penned an essay for Netflix, detailing his personal experience with the stalker, explaining: “Sometimes in the pit of despair, inspiration emerges. I was now in the fourth year of being stalked, by a woman, whose only skill greater than her ability to harass was her ability to evade the law.
© -“She had somehow just obtained my mobile number and I was at the peak of my career at that point, having just returned from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where I had won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Monkey See Monkey Do. A show which tackled the sexual abuse I suffered when I first got into the industry. It was a big moment for me. Coming clean with what happened after so many years of suffering in silence.
“But any good feeling in the Fringe’s aftermath was tempered by my phone ringing every single minute of every day where I was met with a whole gamut of Martha’s emotions from hurled insults to deep expressions of love and longing. It was too much for anyone to bear.”
© Ed Miller/NetflixHe continued that he would listen to it all in the hopes that she would say something that the police could use to file a restraining order against her, before deciding that he would one day stage the ordeal. The show debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019, and won the Scotsman Fringe First Award and a Stage Award for Acting Excellence.
Speaking about bringing the story to a Netflix season, Richard concluded: “I would be lying if I said I was not back exactly where I was all those years ago in 2019 at the Edinburgh Fringe. Fearing the worst. Praying for the best. Hoping that in amongst all the messy, complicated, [expletive] up, themes Baby Reindeer throws at you that people might take notice of its beating heart.”
© Ed Miller/NetflixThe show will also highlight Richard’s complicated relationship with his stalker, with him telling the Guardian back in 2019: “It would be unfair to say she was an awful person and I was a victim. That didn’t feel true.”
He continued: “I did loads of things wrong and made the situation worse. I wasn’t a perfect person [back then], so there’s no point saying I was. And I know as I’m doing those sections that people are thinking I’m not a nice person – which makes them difficult to perform.”
So where is Martha now? As of 2019, she was restrained from contacting the artist himself but had found ways to harass his friends and family. “She needs help,” Richard explained. “But she’s not getting any. So her instability would just come down the phone at me every day.”
Baby Reindeer: Martha's obsession in numbers
© Ed Miller/NetflixRichard Gadd has been vocal about his stalker, named 'Martha' in the show, and just how many messages, voicemails, tweets and emails he received from her before contact was cut off. It included:
- 41,000 emails
- 744 tweets
- 100 pages of letters
- 350 hours of voicemails
Anyone affected by Richard's story or themes mentioned in this article can find support by contacting Victim Support or the National Stalking Helpline.
