Richard Gadd has spoken out about the legacy of his autobiographical Netflix drama Baby Reindeer, saying that he’s still “proud” of the show despite the controversy around it.
Based on his one-man stage show of the same name, Baby Reindeer centred on an aspiring comedian called Donny (Gadd) who is relentlessly harassed and stalked by a lonely and mentally ill woman named Martha (Jessica Gunning) who he meets while working at a pub.
The seven-part series – which opened with a disclaimer saying that it was a “true story” – was a stratospheric hit for Netflix upon its release in April 2024. It broke into the streamer’s top 10 most viewed shows ever at the time, and became a major cultural talking point.
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Trouble started following the show’s release, when the “real-life” Martha, a woman called Fiona Muir-Harvey, was found by viewers on social media.
That June, Muir-Harvey sued Netflix, accusing the streaming giant of defamation and negligence and claiming that the show “viciously destroyed” her.
Speaking in a new interview with The Times, Gadd was asked how he felt about the show in the wake of the lawsuit. Muir-Harvey is seeking $170 million (£128 million) in damages, with the case currently pending.
Admitting that the lawsuit meant the question was “going to be quite tricky to speak to”, Gadd said: “But I’m very proud of Baby Reindeer, and in all of the noise and things that happened it did a lot of good.
“It had a phenomenal impact. Referrals to abuse charities went up 53 per cent, 47 per cent for stalking charities. I’m proud people saw it, related and realised they need help. That led to positive change. So there’s a lot I’m super-proud of.”
Upon Baby Reindeer's release, Gadd vocally discouraged viewers from seeking out the real-life inspiration for the characters online. However, both the Scottish comic and Netflix itself were criticised for not making the onscreen characters more distinctive from their true counterparts.
Gadd, who won an Emmy for his performance in the show, wasn't named in Muir-Harvey's lawsuit, but he filed a response in federal court defending a motion to dismiss Harvey’s claim in July 2024.
“I am a comedian, writer, and actor. I created, wrote, and starred in the Netflix series Baby Reindeer (the ‘Series’)," he wrote, saying that he had ‘personal knowledge of the facts set forth below and, if called as a witness, could and would testify competently thereto’.
Gadd’s next project, the BBC drama Half Man, is not autobiographical, although the writer said that there were “clearly themes I relate to: confusion, trauma, abuse”.
On whether he’d avoid turning his real-life experiences into art in the future, Gadd told The Times that he’d “always do what I felt was right for a project”.
“If you ever write from a place of fear, it won’t go very well. My first thought is whether I can do the subject justice – before wondering what someone might think,” he said.
Half Man will see Gadd star opposite Jamie Bell, with the pair playing Ruben and Niall, two men from broken homes who were once inseparable despite their dramatically different personalities.
The series, which follows the men over 30 years as their relationship shifts dramatically, will be released on BBC iPlayer on 24 April, and air on BBC One the following week.
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