Who actually is Baby Reindeer?

Netflix's new suspenseful drama Baby Reindeer surprises viewers with its unexpected progression.

Baby Reindeer, based on Scottish comedian, actor, and writer Richard Gadd's experience with a stalker in his 20s, was released on April 11, 2024.

Gadd plays Donny Dunn, who is pursued by a woman named Martha, whom he meets at the bar where he works.

Followed for 4 years

Netflix summarizes the synopsis of the series, which it states is not suitable for those under 18, as follows:

When a failed comedian shows goodwill to a sensitive woman, he ignites a suffocating obsession that could ruin both their lives.

Gadd said he was followed for four years by a woman who called him "baby reindeer."

At first, both Gadd and his friends didn't think much of it, until things started to escalate.

Richard Robert Steven Gadd (born 11 May 1990) is a Scottish writer, actor and comedian. He created and starred in the 2024 Netflix drama series Baby Reindeer, based on his one-man show and real-life experience. Gadd identifies as bisexual. He is an ambassador for We Are Survivors, a UK charity dedicated to helping male survivors of sexual abuse. Gadd himself was a victim of sexual abuse. From 2015 to 2017, Gadd was stalked by an older woman. 

Gadd was harassed with 41,071 emails, 350 hours of voicemails, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages, and 106 pages of letters.

His persistent follower also sent him gifts such as a reindeer toy, sleeping pills, a wool hat, and boxer shorts.

"At first everyone in the bar thought it was funny that I had a fan," Gadd said in an interview with Britain's The Times newspaper.

Then he started invading my life, following me around, coming to my shows, waiting outside my house, and sending thousands of voicemails and emails.

In an interview with the Guardian, one of the UK's leading newspapers, in 2019, Gadd, 34, said that he did some things wrong and could have handled the situation better.

"I know people think he's not a good person."

"I wasn't a perfect person back then, so there's no point in saying I was," Gadd admitted.

And I know that when I was filming those episodes, people thought I wasn't a good person, which makes it hard to describe what I was going through.

With Baby Reindeer, Gadd wanted to paint a clear picture of what stalking is while not romanticizing the behavior.

"The persistent pursuit is glossed over on television and presented as exciting," Gadd said in a statement to the Netflix fan site Tudum.

It has a mystery. Like someone in a dark alley. He's really sexy and very normal, but then slowly he gets weird. But stalking is a mental illness. I wanted to show the layers of followership in a way I hadn't seen on television before. This is an inversion of a stalker story. It takes a cliché and turns it on its head.

Baby Reindeer stars Gadd, Nava Mau, and Jessica Gunning. The 7-episode mini-series is directed by Weronika Tofilska and produced by Matthew Mulot.