The show is based on a true story
Netflix’s new Baby Reindeer has had everyone talking, as it follows a struggling comedian who becomes increasingly troubled as he is stalked by a woman who nicknames him ‘Baby Reindeer’. The show is based on a true story, with Richard Gadd playing a version of himself as the man becoming increasingly disturbed by the pursuit of his stalker, who is only named ‘Martha’ on the show. But where is she now? Here’s what we know…
Richard has kept the real name and identity of his stalker out of the press, so it is difficult to find out where ‘Martha’ is now. However, Richard has been sympathetic about her issues, telling The Independent: “I can’t emphasise enough how much of a victim she is in all this.
“When we think of stalkers, we always think of films like Misery and Fatal Attraction, where the stalker is a monstrous figure in the night down an alleyway. But usually, it’s a prior relationship or 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.”
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He also confirmed that he now had a restraining order against her where she was unable to contact him or his friends and family. However, in an interview with The Guardian in 2019, he revealed that she had been contacting his family and friends - but that the attention over his one-man-show, based on his experience, might have made her “think twice” about pursuing him.
He explained: “I have to admit that it hasn’t. Maybe seeing this in the press has made her think twice about her behaviour… She needs help, but she’s not getting any. So her instability would just come down the phone at me every day.”
Richard has also spoken at length about how he feels the law needs to be changed around stalking and harassment, as he struggled to get a restraining order against ‘Martha’ for a long time before it was finally granted. He told Time Out: “There were times when it was so life-debilitating that I couldn't believe it was allowed to get to that point from a legal perspective.”
He added to The Independent: “The laws surrounding harassment and abuse are so stupid because they look for black and white, good and evil, and that’s not how it works.
Baby Reindeer: Martha's obsession in numbers
Richard Gadd has been vocal about his stalker, named 'Martha' in the show, and just how many messages, voicemails, tweets and emails he received from her before contact was cut off. It included:
- 41,000 emails
- 744 tweets
- 100 pages of letters
- 350 hours of voicemails
“I could intimidate you by turning up to your workplace every day and getting a coffee over the road and staring through the window at you. You might feel very uncomfortable about that. But unless you can prove that there’s some sort of physical threat, he can do as he pleases. That’s really jeopardising your life. But you can really affect someone’s life within the parameters of legality, and that is sort of mad.”
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