Baby Reindeer Explained

Creator:Richard Gadd
Country:United Kingdom
Language:English
Num Episodes:7
Producer:Matthew Mulot
Runtime:27–45 minutes
Company:Clerkenwell Films
Network:Netflix

Baby Reindeer is a British black comedy-drama thriller television miniseries created by and starring Richard Gadd. It is adapted from his autobiographical one-man show.[1] [2] Directed by Weronika Tofilska and Josephine Bornebusch, it also stars Jessica Gunning, Nava Mau, and Tom Goodman-Hill. The miniseries was released on April 11, 2024 on Netflix, where it had a strong viewership and received critical acclaim.

Baby Reindeer was nominated for 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning six, including: Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Outstanding Writing for Gadd, Outstanding Lead Actor for Gadd, and Outstanding Supporting Actress for Gunning.

Plot

Aspiring comedian Donny Dunn works as a bartender in a London pub. He offers a cup of tea to a customer, Martha, to cheer her up. Martha develops an attachment to Donny and begins to stalk him both in person and online. Years earlier, Donny is being mentored by TV writer Darrien O'Connor, who supplies him with drugs. The latter repeatedly sexually assaults and rapes Donny during drug-induced blackouts, until they break off contact.

In the present, Donny reports Martha to the police for stalking, violence, and threatening his parents. She is arrested and serves nine months in prison. Darrien and Donny meet again. Darrien suggests a renewal of their collaboration. Donny reluctantly agrees.

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Guest

Episodes

All seven episodes were simultaneously released on Netflix on 11 April 2024.[3]

Production

Development and casting

The series was announced in December 2020, with Richard Gadd set to write the series and star. Clerkenwell Films was set to produce.[4] Weronika Tofilska was added as the director in August 2022, with Josephine Bornebusch announced as an additional director in March 2023. Richard Gadd was cast alongside the series announcement.[4] Jessica Gunning was cast on 26 August 2022.[5] Nava Mau was announced as a cast member in March 2023.[6]

Filming

Filming began in mid-August 2022 in the Grassmarket, Edinburgh,[7] [5] and continued in London in September.[8]

Among the filming locations in London were the Stag's Head pub in Hoxton, which was used for exterior scenes at the Heart pub, the Regent's Canal in Haggerston, and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern. Donny's stand-up comedy shows were filmed at Bethnal Green Working Men's Club, the Rivoli Ballroom in Brockley and The Comedy Store in Leicester Square. Darrien's apartment was filmed inside Marsham Court in Victoria. In Edinburgh, the Hoppy pub in Meadowbank, Edinburgh served as the exterior of the Festival Fringe venue for Donny's comedy show (interior scenes were filmed in the Army & Navy pub in Stoke Newington, London). Other exterior locations are the Royal Mile and the Grassmarket, where Donny is shown walking along the street amid festival activities.[9]

Filming wrapped by early March 2023.

Reception

Critical response

The series received critical acclaim. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 58 critics gave the series a positive review, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "A bracing work of autofiction by creator and star Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer can be a punishing watch but richly rewards viewers with its emotional complexity and excellent performances."[10] On Metacritic, the series holds a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on 17 critics.[11]

Audience viewership

Baby Reindeer debuted at number five on Netflix's Top 10 TV English titles for the tracking week of 8–14 April 2024, with 10.4 million hours viewed.[12] On the following week, it climbed to number one and garnered 52.8 million viewing hours.[13] The series remained at the same position for its third and fourth weeks, earning 87.4 and 73.6 million viewing hours.[14] [15]

Awards and nominations

AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryNominee(s)ResultRef.
Artios Awards12 February 2025Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Limited SeriesNina Gold, Martin Ware[16]
Astra TV Awards8 December 2024Best Limited SeriesBaby Reindeer[17]
Best Actor in a Limited Series or TV MovieRichard Gadd
Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or TV MovieTom Goodman-Hill
Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or TV MovieJessica Gunning
Nava Mau
Best Directing in a Limited Series or TV Movie
Best Writing in a Limited Series or TV MovieRichard Gadd
Gotham TV Awards4 June 2024Breakthrough Limited SeriesBaby Reindeer[18]
[19]
Outstanding Performance in a Limited SeriesRichard Gadd
Primetime Emmy Awards15 September 2024Outstanding Limited or Anthology SeriesRichard Gadd, Wim De Greef, Petra Fried,
Matt Jarvis, Ed Macdonald, and Matthew Mulot		[20]
[21]
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or MovieRichard Gadd
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or MovieTom Goodman-Hill
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or MovieJessica Gunning
Nava Mau
Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or MovieWeronika Tofilska
Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or MovieRichard Gadd
8 September 2024Outstanding Casting for a Limited or Anthology Series or MovieNina Gold and Martin Ware
Outstanding Contemporary CostumesMekel Bailey and Imogen Holness
Outstanding Music SupervisionCatherine Grieves
Outstanding Picture Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series or MoviePeter H. Oliver and Benjamin Gerstein
Television Critics
Association Awards		12 July 2024Program of the YearBaby Reindeer[22]
Outstanding Achievement in Drama
Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials
Outstanding New Program
Individual Achievement in DramaRichard Gadd
Hollywood Music in Media Awards20 November 2024Music Supervision – TelevisionCatherine Grieves[23]

Basis in fact

Fans began to speculate on social media about possible persons who inspired the show's fictional characters. Gadd asked fans to stop any kind of speculation in an April 2024 statement.[24] After being falsely identified online as the factual person from whom the character Darrien was derived, theatre director Sean Foley reported the false allegations to the police.[25] The police investigated the reports. Gadd confirmed that Foley was not his source of the character.

On 9 May 2024, in an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored, 59-year-old Fiona Muir-Harvey, a Scottish woman with a law degree, claimed to have inspired the Martha character.[26] Earlier tweets from an account linked to Muir-Harvey resulted in increased fan connections between her and the Martha character.[27] These included a reference to hanging curtains, a sexually suggestive phrase that was later used in the script of Baby Reindeer.[28]

During her Uncensored interview, Harvey said that she had met Gadd several times at The Hawley Arms, Camden, but denied sending him 41,000 emails or going to his home, as was stated of her erstwhile character on the show. She said that she was planning to start legal action for defamation against both Gadd and Netflix for claiming the series is "a true story" and suggesting that she had been convicted of stalking and sexual assault, as is the Martha character in the series.[29]

Harvey said she had sent up to 10 emails and a letter, as well as several tweets, to Gadd.[30] She later claimed she was paid £250 to appear, and said that the interview left her feeling "a bit used".[31] The interview drew some criticism, with people questioning the ethics of the event.[32]

Laura Wray, a lawyer and widow of Scottish politician Jimmy Wray, said that she had briefly employed Harvey at her law firm in 1997. After Harvey was dismissed, she made abusive social media posts directed at Wray.[33]

On 6 June, Harvey filed a suit against Netflix in the United States, for defamation, seeking $170 million in damages, claiming that the show has "viciously destroyed" her.[34] [35]

On September 27, U.S. Judge Gary Klausner dismissed Harvey's negligence and gross negligence claims, along with her request for punitive damages. He allowed her to continue the defamation case against Netflix, noting that Netflix had misrepresented the show as a "true story", and failed to verify Gadd's claims as asserted in the script or to disguise Harvey's identity.[29] [36]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Donaldson . Kayleigh . 24 April 2024 . Baby Reindeer: Netflix's True Crime Disease Poisons the Show . 25 April 2024 . . 25 April 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240425061319/https://www.thewrap.com/baby-reindeer-problematic-richard-gadd-true-crime-netflix/ . live.
  2. Web site: Billington . Alex . 22 March 2024 . Netflix Trailer for 'Baby Reindeer' Awkward Stalker Dark Comedy Series . 25 April 2024 . FirstShowing.net . 29 March 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240329152600/https://www.firstshowing.net/2024/netflix-trailer-for-baby-reindeer-awkward-stalker-dark-comedy-series/ . live.
  3. Web site: Hudspeth . Christopher . What Is Baby Reindeer? The True Story and New Series Explained . 11 April 2024 . . 11 April 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240411132449/https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/baby-reindeer-cast-release-date-plot . live.
  4. Ravindran . Manori . 13 December 2020 . Netflix Unveils New U.K. Projects With Sam Mendes, Rowan Atkinson, Andy Serkis . 8 October 2022 . . 14 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211114122637/https://variety.com/2020/tv/global/netflix-uk-original-series-slate-1234852613/ . live.
  5. Web site: Whittock . Jesse . 26 August 2022 . 'Pride' & 'Back' Actress Jessica Gunning Cast Opposite Richard Gadd In Netflix's 'Baby Reindeer' . 8 October 2022 . . 8 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221008170003/https://deadline.com/2022/08/jessica-gunning-richard-gadd-netflix-baby-reindeer-1235100924/ . live.
  6. Web site: Whittock . Jesse . 3 March 2023 . 'Baby Reindeer': Nava Mau Cast In Netflix Drama From Richard Gadd . 3 March 2023 . . 28 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230328152620/https://deadline.com/2023/03/baby-reindeer-nava-mau-cast-netflix-drama-from-richard-gadd-1235274005/ . live.
  7. News: Carrell . Severin . 23 August 2022 . Edinburgh faces rat surge due to refuse workers' strike, warn heritage leaders . 8 October 2022 . . 8 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221008081550/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/aug/23/edinburgh-faces-rat-surge-due-to-refuse-workers-strike-warn-heritage-leaders . live.
  8. Web site: 7 September 2022 . Now Filming in London: September 2022 . 8 October 2022 . . 4 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221104123517/https://filmlondon.org.uk/latest/now-filming-in-london-september-2022 . live.
  9. Web site: Semlyen . Phil de . Where was 'Baby Reindeer' filmed? All the filming locations from the Netflix drama . Time Out . 18 May 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240507171157/https://www.timeout.com/uk/news/where-was-netflixs-baby-reindeer-filmed-all-the-filming-locations-from-the-hit-drama-042224 . 7 May 2024 . 25 April 2024 . live.
  10. Web site: Baby Reindeer: Limited Series . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240423004022/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/baby_reindeer/s01 . 23 April 2024 . 20 May 2024 . Rotten Tomatoes.
  11. baby-reindeer. tv. 1. Baby Reindeer. 20 May 2024.
  12. Web site: 14 April 2024 . Netflix Global Top 10 . 30 April 2024 . Netflix.
  13. Web site: 21 April 2024 . Netflix Global Top 10 . 30 April 2024 . Netflix.
  14. Web site: 28 April 2024 . Netflix Global Top 10 . 16 May 2024 . Netflix.
  15. Web site: 5 May 2024 . Netflix Global Top 10 . 16 May 2024 . Netflix.
  16. Web site: Artios Awards Nominees Revealed: Netflix Leads With 17 Nominations, HBO/Max With 6. Deadline. Lynette. Rice. November 1, 2024. November 2, 2024.
  17. Web site: The 2024 Astra TV Awards Nominations Have Arrived . . July 9, 2024 . July 10, 2024.
  18. Web site: Verhoeven . Beatrice . May 14, 2024 . 'Baby Reindeer,' 'The Curse,' 'Shogun' Among Inaugural Gotham TV Awards Nominees . May 16, 2024 . Hollywood Reporter.
  19. Web site: 2024 Gotham TV Awards: 'Baby Reindeer,' 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith,' 'Colin From Accounts' Top Winners . June 4, 2024 . . Lewis . Hilary . June 5, 2024.
  20. Web site: Baby Reindeer . . July 17, 2024 . July 17, 2024.
  21. Web site: Netflix Leads Total Emmy Nominations But FX Comes in Close Second with Record Haul Ahead of HBO . White . Peter . . July 17, 2024 . July 17, 2024.
  22. Web site: 'Baby Reindeer', 'Ripley' and 'Shogun' Lead 2024 TCA Awards Nominations: Full List . . Emily . Longeretta . June 10, 2024 . June 10, 2024.
  23. Web site: Willman. Chris. Hollywood Music in Media Awards Noms Led by 'Emilia Pérez' and 'Blitz,' With Elton John, Hans Zimmer and Scores More Among the Nominees. Hollywood Music in Media Awards. November 6, 2024. November 6, 2024.
  24. Web site: Guy . Zoe . 23 April 2024 . Baby Reindeer Creator Asks Fans to Stop Looking for Real-Life Characters . 25 April 2024 . . limited . 24 April 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240424232510/https://www.vulture.com/article/baby-reindeer-true-story-real-martha.html . live.
  25. News: McLoughlin . Lisa . 24 April 2024 . Baby Reindeer prompts police investigation after false accusations . 25 April 2024 . . 23 April 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240423215343/https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/baby-reindeer-police-investigation-false-accusations-richard-gadd-abuser-b1153263.html . live.
  26. Web site: Lammers . Tim . 'Baby Reindeer': Real 'Martha' Reveals Identity In Photo With Piers Morgan . 8 May 2024 . Forbes.
  27. News: Baby Reindeer: Fiona Harvey says she will sue Netflix and writer Richard Gadd . 25 May 2024 . BBC News . 10 May 2024.
  28. Web site: Burgos . Jenzia . Fiona Harvey's Tweets Were Found by Baby Reindeer Fans—Here's What She Said to Richard Gadd . Yahoo Life . 26 May 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240526125130/https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/fiona-harvey-tweets-were-found-015500097.html . 26 May 2024 . 13 May 2024 . live.
  29. Web site: Baby Reindeer was wrongly billed by Netflix as a ‘true story’, judge finds. Cain . Sian. The Guardian. 30 September 2024. 28 Nov 2024.
  30. Web site: Dingwall . John . 2024-05-15 . Real-life Martha Fiona Harvey to sue Netflix with lawyer who defended Ryan Giggs . 2024-05-22 . Aberdeen Live . en . 2024-05-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240520000846/https://www.aberdeenlive.news/news/aberdeen-news/real-life-martha-baby-reindeer-9285302 . live .
  31. News: Jacobs . Eammon . The woman outed as the alleged 'Baby Reindeer' stalker says she felt 'used' in Piers Morgan interview, where she denied harassing Richard Gadd and called him 'psychotic' . 13 May 2024 . Business Insider . 9 May 2024.
  32. News: Butler . Alexander . 10 May 2024 . Viewers horrified by Piers Morgan's 'excruciating' 'unethical' interview with real-life Baby Reindeer Martha . 13 May 2024 . The Independent.
  33. Web site: Bryant . Tom . 2024-05-13 . 'I was stalked by real-life Baby Reindeer Martha - now I'm scared again' . 2024-05-22 . Aberdeen Live . en . 2024-05-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240523000319/https://www.aberdeenlive.news/news/aberdeen-news/i-stalked-real-life-baby-9282460 . live .
  34. News: Yang . Maya . 2024-06-06 . Baby Reindeer: woman who claims to be real-life Martha sues Netflix for $170m . 2024-06-07 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  35. Web site: Vernon . Will . Matza . Max . June 6, 2024 . Woman sues Netflix for $170m over Baby Reindeer character . 2024-06-07 . www.bbc.com . en-GB.
  36. Web site: Netflix fails to get Baby Reindeer lawsuit dropped . www.bbc.com.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Baby Reindeer".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.