Who is Richard Gadd, the creator of ‘Baby reindeer’ and what became of his real-life stalker?

The new series to hit Netflix, “Baby Reindeer”, has captivated audiences with its complex story about a man and his stalker. It is told in a way that does not portray a victim and a bad guy. The fact that it’s based on real-life events is not necessarily what draws you in, but it is what keeps you Googling after, and understanding that these kinds of stories are much more nuanced than they typically are portrayed on the screen.

Who is Richard Gadd?

The creator and lead actor, who plays Donny Dunn in the series, is Richard Gadd. Gadd changed the names and details of the characters in the series and said that some details and order of events were changed for both “legal and artistic reasons”, but that the story is 100% “emotionally true”.

“I was severely stalked and severely abused. But we wanted it to exist in the sphere of art, as well as protect the people it’s based on,” said Gadd.

Gadd is a Scottish comedian and actor and became known for his stand-up show called Monkey See Monkey Do, which is difficult to watch. It’s based on a personal tale of being raped by a manipulative older man, a story which is also told in “Baby Reindeer”, which he originally wrote as a one-man play three years later (2019).

The seven-episode Netflix series “Baby Reindeer” depicts Gadd’s life from 2015, when a woman started stalking him. In the series, the woman is called Martha, and it all starts with an act of kindness. Gadd’s character sees her crying in the bar where he works, and offers her a drink on the house. Gadd has said that indeed, that is how the story began in real life as well.

Who is Martha, Gadd’s stalker in “Baby Reindeer” and what happened to her?

Gadd does not reveal Martha’s real name, but does say that she was two decades older than him in real life. In the show, she slowly starts to derail his life. She starts by sitting across from him at the bar daily and for hours on end, drinking just one diet coke. She repeatedly says she has no money, but also says she’s a lawyer. Eventually, Donny finds out that she was fired for a previous stalking conviction, of her boss.

Things escalate little by little. Martha stays at the bar for hours, gives him uncomfortable compliments, and eventually finds his email and starts sending him hundreds a day. When she finds out he does comedy, she shows up at his shows and starts causing a scene. She tells Donny that she loves him and has convinced herself hat they are in a relationship. Eventually, she finds out where he lives, shows up there, assaults him, and harasses his ex-girlfriend online and in person. From there, things become even more frightening, threatening, and violent.

When Donny finally reports Martha to the police after several months, he struggles to get them to take him seriously or believe she is actually a dangerous person. A recurring theme in the show is the social ideas connected to masculinity. He eventually goes back to the station to play a threatening voicemail and they find her in the system and see her record of previous stalking. Martha gets arrested, pleads guilty, and is sentenced to nine months in prison. Donny is granted a five-year restraining order against her.

“I do think the institution needs improvement, especially around stalking,” Gadd said. “I can think of numerous examples where people have complained to the police about a stalker but because maybe they’ve had a previous relationship the police haven’t taken it seriously... The first thing the police should do is try to preserve the safety of the person who is making the report rather than going through a long, arduous process to work out whether they should believe them or not.”

Gadd has not only not given the name of his real-life stalker, but also said that he isn’t even sure she would recognize herself if she watched the show. “What’s been borrowed is an emotional truth, not a fact-by-fact profile of someone,” he said.

Martha is played spectacularly by actress Jessica Gunning, who Gadd had picked out from the start. “What I needed to see was the essence of the person, the kind of energy, and no one did it like Jess,” he said. “She’s phenomenal. I needed to see someone who was vulnerable one moment, angry the next, volatile but so desperate and sympathetic. I needed to see someone who could capture a full gamut of emotions.”

Though Gadd did not reveal his stalker’s real fate, he did say that he isn’t concerned about being contacted by her at this point, saying that the situation has been “resolved”. An article from The Times makes it sound as if she did not go to prison at all. Gadd says he “didn’t want to throw someone who was that level of mentally unwell in prison.”

This is another theme of the show - Gadd really portrays his stalker as a person who needs help, not an inherently evil person. He explores the gray areas of an incident like this, and puts a lot of blame on himself. In the show, he narrates the many instances he “should have” stopped, “shouldn’t have” gone back or said this or done that, that maybe he led her on, gave her the wrong idea. Though his stalker is a person who is clearly unwell and has no real grasp on reality, Gadd is adamant that he played a role in all of this.

“People are afraid to admit they made mistakes, and I think a lot of mistakes by humans are made through people-pleasing,” said Gadd. “You stay in a lie because it’s easier to circumvent the tension of a situation. I never wanted to upset someone who was vulnerable.”

Gadd said that re-enacting these traumatic events was difficult with “triggering elements”, but that the positive reception has been cathartic and made it all worth it. “Yes, some of the scenes we re-enacted on set were really tough... I could even see that some of the props department were choked up, even the lighting people... but we all knew that we were pushing towards something that was important,” said Gadd. “I hope the show has a certain degree of greater good, and that it was worth a certain degree of self-sacrifice.”