Baby Reindeer: Lesser-known facts about Richard Gadd’s hit Netflix series

The hit Netflix series Baby Reindeer is an intimate exploration of Scottish comedian, writer, and actor Richard Gadd's real-life experience with a stalker.The hit Netflix series Baby Reindeer is an intimate exploration of Scottish comedian, writer, and actor Richard Gadd's real-life experience with a stalker. The revealing show delves into the complexities of obsession, power dynamics, and personal boundaries as Gadd turns to the most unsettling period of his life. The series has garnered praise for its eerie atmosphere and Gadd’s intimate portrayal of various events from his life. Playwright and filmmaker Jon Brittain has helmed the series, who is a recipient of an Olivier Award and is best known for serving as a writer in Netflix’s hit series The Crown. For today’s Now You Know podcast we take a look at some lesser-known facts about Baby Reindeer.

1. The hit Netflix series was first released as a stage play in 2019 winning multiple awards and it premiered at the prestigious Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019 which is also depicted in an episode on the show. Critics praised Richard Gadd’s “majestic performance” and the play’s haunting and unsettling aesthetic. It is a one-man production with Gadd portraying all the characters, including himself and his stalker, resulting in a singularly unique performance.
2. Apart from being an accomplished actor, Gadd is also renowned for his work as a writer for popular TV shows. His most recognisable contribution as a TV writer is for the hit Netflix comedy series Sex Education.
3. To maintain authenticity and be respectful towards the highly sensitive subject of stalking, the production team conducted an extensive study into the phenomenon. They consulted experts and survivors, in addition to Gadd’s own detailed analysis of his horrifying ordeal.
4. Even though the stalker is called Martha in the series, her real identity has been kept confidential for legal and ethical reasons. In the TV show, it is also revealed that Gadd was sexually assaulted by another individual whose identity has also been kept strictly confidential.
5. Despite the efforts and various measures taken to safeguard the identities of Gadd’s stalker and abuser, online super sleuths have already begun connecting various dots to identify these individuals. In response to this, Gadd issued a public statement requesting fans of the show to not speculate about or attempt to out these individuals as inadvertently, in doing so, some of his loved ones have been wrongly identified and accused of being the concerned perpetrators by many online.
6. In a span of over four years, the stalker depicted on the show actually attempted to communicate with Gadd by sending him 41,071 emails, 350 hours of voicemails, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages, and 106 pages of letters. She also sent him various gifts such as a reindeer toy, sleeping pills, a woolly hat, and boxer shorts.

Well that's all for this episode, until the next one it's your host Nikhil signing out.

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• Written by Ryan Gomez