Ed Miller/Netflix
‘Baby Reindeer’: All Your Burning Questions About the Hit Netflix Series Answered
Netflix’s Baby Reindeer quickly became a fan favorite after its April 11, 2024, release. However, after watching the seven-episode series, some viewers were left with more questions than answers.
What Happened to the Real-Life Martha?
Like Donny, Richard was working at a London pub when he served a free cup of tea to an older woman (who is called Martha and played by Jessica Gunning on the show) — sparking a yearslong stalking nightmare, in which she sent more than 41,071 emails, 744 tweets, letters totaling 106 pages and 350 hours of voicemail messages, and also harassed him outside his home. While he has made an effort to keep her name private, a Scottish woman named Fiona Harvey has come forward to claim that the character is based on her — but insists she didn’t stalk him. “I am very attractive. He’s not Brad Pitt,” the 58-year-old told The Sun, adding that she plans to sue Netflix because the show has made her the real victim. “I’m a highly competent lawyer.” How did things end up legally? The stalker, who nicknamed him “baby reindeer,” is forbidden to contact Richard. “It is resolved,” he says. “I had mixed feelings about it — I didn’t want to throw someone who was that level of mentally unwell in prison.”
How Is Richard Gadd Doing Today?
Creator and star Richard Gadd says he’s “OK,” especially after making the show, in which he plays Donny, a fictionalized version of himself who suffers sexual abuse and fends off an unhinged stalker. “Being given a platform like this to express myself comes with a certain degree of healing, not just for me but for people who are at home watching who have been through something like this,” adds the comedian, who has “every type of therapy going” but still tears up when he talks about the toll his trauma has taken on his worried parents. “It is a process,” the 35-year-old says of recovery, but notes that the events depicted in the series happened many years ago. “I am way more cautious around people now. It takes me a long time to trust them.” (If you or someone you know is struggling, go to wannatalkaboutit .com.)
Was Teri Based on His Real Ex?
Yes! “When I read [the script], I could tell that Richard really loved her,” actress Nava Mau says of her character. The real-life woman, says Richard, “always used to call me out on my s–t. My behavior was so irrational. So it was very important to have Teri be the voice of reason on the show. She was the voice of reason in my life as well, not that I listened to her as much as I should have.” And while they are no longer together in real life (Richard has said he struggled with his sexuality and “unfortunate shame” over falling for a trans woman), Nava reveals that a scene was filmed but ultimately deleted that hinted at how she’s doing: “Teri found a new man, she didn’t lose her friends, she didn’t lose her job, she didn’t lose her smile. She’s good!”
Who Is the Abusive Groomer?
On the show, Donny is still traumatized from being groomed and sexually assaulted by a producer named Darrien (Tom Goodman-Hill) — and fans soon began trying to guess his real identity. “People I love, have worked with and admire are unfairly caught up in the speculation,” Richard, who did a one-man show about surviving the horrific abuse in 2012, wrote on Instagram, asking them to stop. (The police were even called to investigate defamatory posts and threats made toward a theater friend of his.)
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