‘Baby Reindeer’ is the latest miniseries to have become a hit for Netflix. According to FlixPatrol, the series is currently the number one globally, as well as in the United States. The thriller follows the chilling experience of a comedian with a stalker, and many fans wonder if the series is based on a true story… And the answer is yes.
The series, based on his autobiographical one-man show of the same name, stars Richard Gadd, a Scottish comedian, who plays a fictionalized version of himself. It details the true story of the stalking and harassment he experienced for years in his 20s at the hands of a middle-aged woman.
From the producers of ‘The End of the F*****g World‘, the thriller follows Gadd as Donny Dunn, a struggling comedian and bartender that gets stalked by Martha (Jessica Gunning), who becomes obsessed with him after he serves her a free cup of tea at the bar where he worked.
What has Richard Gadd said about the real story of ‘Baby Reindeer’?
In an interview with U.K.’s The Times, Gadd explained that “At first everyone at the pub thought it was funny that I had an admirer,” but then the woman started to “invade” his life: following him, appearing at his gigs, waiting outside his house and sending thousands of voicemails, emails and, even, presents.
According to what Gadd revealed to Still Watching Netflix, over four and a half years, the woman sent him 41,071 emails, 350 hours’ worth of voicemails, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages, and 106 pages of letters.
Gadd describes the story as a “stalker story with a twist,” showing the side of stalking that doesn’t necessarily is “black and white.” However, he says that this is the story of a “messed-up period” of his life that he “needed” to tell.
Meanwhile, another important part of the story is the abuse he suffered at the hands of an older TV writer who offered to “mentor” him. To Gadd, this is to show that a lot of abuse “occurs in very intimate relationships,” and “how just complicated, and psychological messed up situations can get.”
In the series and in real life, the ramifications of the abuse also impacted the way Gadd dealt with his stalker. “Having someone at the end of the bar who was purely unadulterated adoration was kind of what I needed but it was foolish of me, and it was using someone. And I guess I was punished for that in quite an extreme way,” he told Netflix.
Who Was The Real Martha In Baby Reindeer?
While Gadd wanted to tell his story, he’s keeping Martha’s real-life details private. He hasn’t revealed her name to the media and changed some facts for the Netflix show. “We’ve disguised her so much that she probably wouldn’t recognize herself,” he told GQ. “We’ve taken emotional truths, not exact facts.”
In the show, Martha leaves a threatening voicemail on Donny’s phone and gets arrested for stalking. In real life, what happened to Martha is unknown. Gadd suggested she didn’t go to prison, saying he didn’t want to lock up someone so mentally unwell. He feels conflicted but says the situation is resolved.
