A bubbly woman walks into a bar where a struggling comic serves her. No, that isn’t set up for a joke, it is instead the instigator of a harrowing story of how a simple act of kindness turned into a dangerous obsession. The psychological thriller, Baby Reindeer, manifests Richard Gadd’s historical and traumatic experiences.
His character is a struggling comic who takes pity on an emotional woman called Martha (Outlaw’s Jessica Gunning) who begins to relentlessly pursue him. In real life, Richard’s stalker sent him more than 41,000 emails, left voicemails totalling 350 hours, sent dozens of social media messages, and wrote 106 pages of letters over three years.
Netflix Success and Social Media Frenzy
The chilling miniseries Baby Reindeer is seven-increasingly-depraved episodes is currently ranked as the No. 1 show on Netflix with 22 million views this past week alone. It seems that ‘obsession’ is a catch-on phrase as the series has sparked a frenzy among viewers on social platforms like X and TikTok. Internet sleuths have spent the last week or so trying to track down the real woman who stalked Gadd.
A woman claiming to be the ‘real-life Martha’ declared that she was the ‘victim’ in the scenario. Speaking to the Daily Record, the woman, who is Scottish but now lives in London, says she has been bombarded with death threats from fans and is now the one being stalked.
The Woman’s Perspective
She claims: “I’m the victim here, not Richard Gadd. I’ve had death threats as a result of his show despite the fact that a lot of the things he claimed are just not true.” She continues: “Someone online said, ‘If I find you I will kill you’. A guy in North Carolina said that he and other people were going to stalk me like I am supposed to have stalked Gadd.” The woman then noted how the show has led to her not being able to sleep, with her claiming that she only managed to get two hours of shut-eye one night because she was worried that the threats might come true.
Fans are also convinced they’ve pinpointed the ‘real life’ Darrien, who, according to the show, is a producer who assaulted Gadd years prior. They have noted his striking resemblance to Sean Foley. The fellow comedy writer revealed on X that he had contacted the police who are investigating the posts made against him.
In a heartfelt message shared via Instagram stories, he said: “Hi everyone. People I love, have worked with, and admire (including Sean Foley) are unfairly getting caught up in speculation. Please don’t speculate on who the real-life people could be. That’s not the point of our show. Lots of love.”
The Nuanced Script and Its Impact
It is unfortunate and should not be part of this Netflix sleeper hit. The most compelling aspect of this thriller is its nuanced script that documents stalking, abuse and psychological warfare like few before it.
Donny Dunn, the fictionalised version of Gadd, is at first the typical downtrodden protagonist desperate, as a hopeful star of the stage, for appreciation. His gigs are stale and that, in turn, ruins his showman qualities. As a lover of theatre and having frequently acted in comedies before, I can routinely sympathise with Gadd/Dunn’s plight; throwing every fibre into the act only to be met with a chorus of harsh heckles.
The intriguing thing about Donny is his position in the main conflict; rather than a simple game of cat and mouse, both Donny and Martha remain firmly in a grey and infinitely human area. Intrigue in Donny surfaces from his initially confusing reaction to having his privacy invaded by someone with all the hallmarks of a stalker. It doesn’t take a detective to deduce that Martha has taken leave from Glenn Close from Fatal Attraction or Cathy Bates from Misery in how to initiate relationships. The unsettling and screeching giggles she utters give Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker a run for his money. Yet Donny, in his rut of unfulfillment, finds solace in the attention as much as she does. Thus, he is hesitant to go to the police or seek a restraining order, undoubtedly making things worse. It is certainly an interesting double-edged sword for the audience of Baby Reindeer to witness. Plus, with later insight given to Donny’s previous encounters with abuse, the state of his mind is harder to predict.
Gadd’s Insight on Abuse
In an interview with GQ, Gadd said “We live in a time where everyone’s trying to be perfect.” He continues: “It’s interesting when someone holds their hands up and says, ‘I made some mistakes.’” He told the magazine he’d wanted to illustrate the reality of abuse in which the connection between abuser and victim isn’t so easy to sever: “What abuse does is it creates psychological damage as well as physical damage… Abuse leaves an imprint. Especially abuse like this where it’s repeated with promises. There’s a pattern where a lot of people who have been abused feel like they need their abusers… it was showing an element of abuse that hadn’t been seen on television before, which is, unfortunately, the deeply entrenched, negative, psychological effects of attachment you can sometimes have with your abuser.”
It is amicable that Gadd can disclose his version of events through our screens, albeit dramatised, and yet still make the conflict feel as viscerally intricate as he can.
As our leading man, Gadd is superficially sympathetic. When it comes to acting, the heavy lifting is left to Gunning, who, as said before, harnesses the seething menace of the above-mentioned Bates and Close but makes Martha her own entity. Largely known for a comedy career herself, Gunning sheds her skin for the role in Baby Reindeer making viewers crawl at every increasing second.
Martha: More Than a Stereotypical Stalker
However, Gadd and his writing team are good enough to never portray a cliched stalker fresh from Hollywood in Martha. As Gadd stated, in an interview with The Independent, “I can’t emphasize enough how much of a victim she is in all this.” He adds: “When we think of stalkers, we always think [the] stalker is a monstrous figure in the night down an alleyway. But usually, it’s a prior relationship someone you know or a work colleague. 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.” And although she will undoubtedly remain a standout in BBC’s Outlaws, which returns later this month for a third season, it will be hard to look at her through the same lens again.
Certainly not for the faint of heart and trigger warnings are advised, including episode four. However, Baby Reindeer deserves its vast and swift success and can only be expected to relish further triumph at the next award ceremonies.
