Netflix Sold Baby Reindeer, Its Hit About a Stalker, as a “True Story.” What Happened Next Was Inevitable. (2024)

Television

Netflix sold Baby Reindeer, its hit about a stalker, as a “true story.” What happened next was inevitable.

By Imogen West-Knights

Netflix Sold Baby Reindeer, Its Hit About a Stalker, as a “True Story.” What Happened Next Was Inevitable. (1)

I wondered, while I was watching Baby Reindeer, what kind of aftermath a show like that might have. The unexpected Netflix hit, written and directed by its star, the British comedian Richard Gadd, was based on his real experience of being stalked by a middle-aged woman. Accordingly, the series begins with the words “this is a true story” on screen.

As I made my way through all seven episodes, I thought that people would undoubtedly try to find the real-life inspiration for the character Martha, the stalker obsessing over Donny, Gadd’s fictionalized version of himself. That is just how the internet works these days. Give people what they perceive to be a mystery to solve, a person’s identity to uncover, and enough of them will try. The question in my mind was whether they would succeed. And now, it seems, people have—or so it appears, at least. They have done so quickly and with ease. One woman in particular has had her name plastered all over the internet this week, along with screengrabs of past tweets at Gadd and other details that seem to corroborate that she is the real person who stalked Gadd. In an interview with the Guardian shortly after the show hit Netflix, Gadd said that the production had changed so many details about the real Martha that she probably wouldn’t even recognize herself in the series’ stalker. It seems that this may be wishful, even willful thinking. The woman in question is also Scottish, also has a legal background, looks somewhat like Martha, and had tweeted things at Gadd in the past that are quoted word for word in the series. It’s fairly damning, particularly since Netflix put out an Instagram reel stating that each and every email Donny receives from Martha in the show is a verbatim message Gadd received from his stalker.

The Daily Mail, in its infinite wisdom, thought it was a good idea to run an interview with this woman, whom they don’t name, in which she claims that, by writing a show about her, Gadd is now the stalker. Earlier today, the Daily Mail put out a follow-up article, in which the journalist who conducted the interview with the supposed “real Martha” alleges that he is now himself being harassed by her, with endless phone calls and abusive text messages. This seems to be both a mind-boggling “life imitating art” moment and an inevitable consequence of directly engaging with someone who is quite clearly mentally unwell in order to generate rubbernecking clicks for your website. The Daily Mail should never have interviewed this woman, and should certainly not have allowed her to pose for photographs sitting at a bus stop like Martha does in the show (which they “decided not to publish,” a late-arriving bolt of common sense).

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

People have also tried to work out who Gadd’s separate abuser figure—depicted on Baby Reindeer as an older man in the comedy industry—was. One theater director whose name was being bandied about online in recent weeks has had to get the West Midlands police involved to investigate threats made online against him, an apparently innocent person. Gadd himself put out a message to fans on his Instagram story asking for people to stop speculating about who the real-life people from the show are, naming this theater director specifically as someone to leave alone.

All in all, a mess! But it’s difficult to know what to learn from the mess here. This is sticky, difficult stuff. Gadd was himself the victim of horrendous abuse at the hands of another person, and of disturbing harassment at the hands of another, but Baby Reindeer’s brilliance as a television program comes in part from its refusal to paint a simple picture of saintly wronged person and evil wrongdoer. Gadd himself has described the real Martha as someone who was “unwell” and “needed help.” This is what makes Baby Reindeer great drama: the complex ways that abuse tightens its grip around people’s lives in different ways; how they then visit their trauma on those around them; grappling with that guilt on top of the pain of the abuse itself. This is Gadd’s story to tell. But while he has every right to tell that story, him doing so has real-world consequences—consequences that most of us wish didn’t exist, but they do. As evidenced by the past, oh, decade or so of the social media–dominated internet, people seem to find it very difficult to know where to draw the line in online sleuthing. It may be that when Gadd was doing Baby Reindeer as a stage show, the risk of dragging his real stalker and real abuser into the spotlight alongside him seemed smaller. The spotlight itself was smaller. But I can’t help but wonder whether more should have been done to preemptively guard against the effect of millions of people worldwide hearing this horrific story, their phones at the ready to get digging, whether out of a misguided sense of justice or just plain boredom.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Where this leaves us is complicated. Should people have to pretend their fictionalized accounts of real events from their lives are pure fiction? Would anyone believe them if they did? That doesn’t feel right either. But it may be that the Baby Reindeer effect will give other writers pause, in the future, about just how true to life they feel comfortable making their art. Broadly, that feels, at a gut level, like a bad thing, diluting stories and the truth because we’re unable to trust audiences to behave themselves. At worst, it could even be seen as veering toward asking victims not to speak up about what has happened to them.

Perhaps Gadd should have anonymized his story more. But at what point would anonymizing his account have meant telling a different story, a less real-feeling one? In the absence of a real answer, all we have is mess.

  • Internet
  • Netflix
  • TV

Advertisement

Netflix Sold Baby Reindeer, Its Hit About a Stalker, as a “True Story.” What Happened Next Was Inevitable. (2024)

FAQs

What happened to the stalker from Baby Reindeer? ›

In real life, Gadd hasn't made it clear whether the real Martha is serving time, though he says the situation has been handled. “It is resolved,” he told The Times. “I had mixed feelings about it — I didn't want to throw someone who was that level of mentally unwell in prison.”

Did the real Martha go to jail Baby Reindeer? ›

In the show, Martha is arrested and sentenced to nine months in prison for stalking Gadd's character. In real life, Harvey has said she was not convicted and was not sent to prison. The Scottish Daily Record reported that she was given a “First Instance Harassment Warning” by the Met Police.

What happened after Baby Reindeer? ›

What happens to Martha in Baby Reindeer? Yes, Martha in Baby Reindeer was arrested the day after sending Donny the threatening voicemail and was charged with three counts of stalking and harassment. In court, her charge is read out, and covers the period of time from 14th August 2015 to 22nd March 2017.

Did Baby Reindeer really happen? ›

I wondered, while I was watching Baby Reindeer, what kind of aftermath a show like that might have. The unexpected Netflix hit, written and directed by its star, the British comedian Richard Gadd, was based on his real experience of being stalked by a middle-aged woman.

Did Baby Reindeer stalker go to jail? ›

Referencing the scene in which Martha received a nine-month prison sentence, Harvey said: “That is completely untrue … I wanted to rebut that completely on this show.

Where is Richard Gadd now? ›

Then, his stalker was imprisoned and served a lengthy restraining order. Now, Richard is an award-winning comedian, writer, actor and charity ambassador who has written for shows like Sex Education and starred in Code 404, Wedding Season and, of course, Baby Reindeer.

What happens to Martha from Baby Reindeer? ›

And unlike Martha from the show, who was described as previously convicted and sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for a separate case and then depicted to have pleaded guilty to harassing Gadd and his parents, Harvey says she has never been convicted of any crimes or gone to prison.

Did real Baby Reindeer go to jail? ›

I've never been sent to jail. That is blatantly obvious." "Police at your door would be the first thing, then you'd be charged, then you would have a trial.

Has Fiona Harvey been convicted of anything? ›

The same goes for the ClearCheck report, which also lists no criminal convictions for Fiona Harvey.

What mental illness does Martha have in Baby Reindeer? ›

Martha's inability to manage her emotions and impulses is another telltale sign of borderline personality disorder.

What is the Baby Reindeer controversy? ›

The hit streaming show is now the subject of a $170 million defamation lawsuit, among other allegations. Baby Reindeer, Netflix's limited series that debuted in April, found a large audience through its purportedly true story of creator Richard Gadd's experience with an obsessed stalker.

Is Netflix Baby Reindeer true? ›

In April, Netflix dropped the limited series Baby Reindeer. In the series, Gadd stars as a fictionalized version of himself named Donny Dunn, a struggling comedian and bartender who is being stalked by a woman named Martha. The pair met after Donny served the lonely woman a free cup of tea at the bar where he worked.

Are the texts in Baby Reindeer real? ›

So how many of the Baby Reindeer emails were actually real? Well, according to Netflix, all of the messages shown through the series are genuine emails that Richard received in real life, typos and all.

Who is the real Teri in Baby Reindeer? ›

While the escalating tension between Donny (Richard Gadd) and his stalker Martha (Jessica Gunning) serves as the engine for Netflix's surprise hit series Baby Reindeer, it's Nava Mau's Teri, a trans therapist with whom Donny falls in love, who holds the key to the show's themes of empathy and compassion.

Who is the Baby Reindeer stalker in real life? ›

'Simply not true': Real life Baby Reindeer 'stalker' hits back at Netflix series claims. Even Piers Morgan would have checked over his shoulder as he finished an interview with Fiona Harvey, the woman who claims she is identified as the stalker in Netflix's hit show Baby Reindeer.

Was Baby Reindeer abuser charged? ›

The police dismissed Gadd's ordeal with his stalker – as happened in real life, as he told The Guardian in 2019 during the original theatre show of Baby Reindeer: “I was getting told off for harassing the police about being harassed…

Who plays the stalker in Baby Reindeer? ›

Jessica Gunning played stalker Martha Scott in Netflix's "Baby Reindeer." The British actor said she "avoid" knowing anything about the woman the character is based on. Gunning said that it's a "shame" that viewers became armchair detectives.

Did the Baby Reindeer woman go to jail? ›

Contrary to what's depicted on the show, Harvey claims she doesn't have a criminal record and that's why she's suing Netflix for its defamatory representation of her (more on that below). In Baby Reindeer, Martha (supposedly based on Harvey) is shown to be arrested, pleading guilty, and spending nine months in prison.

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Madonna Wisozk

Last Updated:

Views: 6060

Rating: 4.8 / 5 (48 voted)

Reviews: 87% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Madonna Wisozk

Birthday: 2001-02-23

Address: 656 Gerhold Summit, Sidneyberg, FL 78179-2512

Phone: +6742282696652

Job: Customer Banking Liaison

Hobby: Flower arranging, Yo-yoing, Tai chi, Rowing, Macrame, Urban exploration, Knife making

Introduction: My name is Madonna Wisozk, I am a attractive, healthy, thoughtful, faithful, open, vivacious, zany person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.