Baby Reindeer: Everything About True Story Behind The Netflix Series Everyone Is Talking About
Baby Reindeer is a true account of Richard Gadd’s life and his middle-aged stalker. Here’s everything you need to know about the true story behind Baby Reindeer.
Everyone is talking about Netflix’s new miniseries ‘Baby Reindeer’ which premiered on the streaming giant on April 11 and has entered into the Top 10 in several countries. The series, created by Richard Gadd, who has also starred in it, is an uncomfortable but gripping watch. ‘Baby Reindeer’ is an adaptation of Gadd's one-man theatre show of the same name, which chronicles his own experience with a stalker and a sexual abuser.
The series follows a struggling comedian and bartender Donny Dunn (played by Richard Gadd) as his life spirals out of control after a seemingly harmless act of kindness towards a vulnerable woman, Martha (played by Jessica Gunning). What unfolds is a chilling display of obsessive behavior that threatens to consume both of them. The seven-episode disturbing series lingers long after it ends as it delves into mental health, sexual abuse, stalking and more in all its rawness. Jessica Gunning’s exceptional portrayal of Martha blurs the lines between victim and perpetrator.
‘Baby Reindeer’ is not just about stalking but also about sexual abuse, coming to terms with your sexuality and how past trauma can affect how you deal with the present danger, and finally confronting your inner demons. Richard Gadd as Donny Dunn makes you feel his vulnerability, and inner conflict and at times makes you wonder about his reaction to certain situations. Donny, despite Martha’s behaviour, sometimes takes comfort in her attention, sympthasises with her.
The true story behind Baby Reindeer
The series is a true account of Richard Gadd’s life and his middle-aged stalker. Here’s everything you need to know about the true story behind Baby Reindeer:
Richard Gadd met his stalker when he used to work as a bartender and offered him a cup of tea on the house which led to a four-year ordeal for Richard.
“At first everyone at the pub thought it was funny that I had an admirer. Then she started to invade my life, following me, turning up at my gigs, waiting outside my house, sending thousands of voicemails and emails,” Gadd told The Times.
Over the period of four years, the woman, who used to call Gadd ‘Baby Reindeer’, sent him 41,071 emails, 350 hours of voicemails, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages, and 106 pages of letters. She also gave him gifts, including a reindeer toy, sleeping pills, and boxer shorts.
"There were times when it was so life-debilitating that I couldn't believe it was allowed to get to that point from a legal perspective,” he told Time Out in 2019.
What happened to Martha in real life
In the series, Martha gets a nine-month prison sentence and a five-year restraining order. But in real life, Gadd told The Times that “she didn’t go to prison.”
“I didn’t want to throw someone who was that level of mentally unwell in prison,” he told Times.
Talking about his stalker and the sympathy he had for her, Gadd told RadioTimes.com, “When I was getting stalked... I saw someone who was unwell, needed help, was quite vulnerable. Stalking is a mental illness and it comes from a sort of fantasy addiction of some kind, this idea that this person is the answer to all your problems, so you'll hear only what you want to hear, disregard the rest."
“I can’t emphasise enough how much of a victim she is in all this. Stalking and harassment is a form of mental illness. It would have been wrong to paint her as a monster, because she’s unwell, and the system’s failed her,” he told The Independent. “
Sexual abuse
‘Baby Reindeer’ is not just about stalking but is also a recount of the sexual assault Gadd faced in his real life. The fourth episode of the series shows Donny being repeatedly sexually assaulted and raped by a television writer. The sexual assault also led to the way Donny reacted to all the situations, including stalking, in his life.
Talking about the sexual assault, Gadd told RadioTimes.com, "It's very important to show how much that had impacted me and how much it had impacted the Martha relationship.”
"The thing is, when Martha enters in episode 1, what I think the audience feels is, 'Why is he indulging her?' You're cringing and you wonder why he's doing it. But I think once you take the audience through episode 4 and you flashback and go through all those things, by the time Martha enters at the end of episode 4, you're like, 'Oh thank God, she's back.' You understand really why Donny did it,” he added.
Speaking about how those who are abused can also feel the shame of being ‘duped’, Gadd shared his mental state at that time and said, “One of the feelings that was left with me after everything was, 'God, I just feel so stupid’. I think being so honest, not just about the assault but how it got to that point, I hope will provide comfort for people who are maybe going through the same thing.”
How much of ‘Baby Reindeer’ is a true story
In a conversation with Variety, when asked how much of the series is a true story, Gadd replied, “It’s all emotionally 100% true, if that makes sense. It’s all borrowed from instances that happened to me and real people that I met. But of course, you can’t do the exact truth, for both legal and artistic reasons. I mean there’s certain protections, you can’t just copy somebody else’s life and name and put it onto television. And obviously, we were very aware that some characters in it are vulnerable people, so you don’t want to make their lives more difficult. So you have to change things to protect yourself and protect other people.”
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