Baby Reindeer is a masterpiece – but it was always going to become a mess

Fiona Harvey, a woman who claims to be ‘the Real Martha’, was found within days of the show airing (Picture: X/Piers Morgan/Netflix)

‘Please don’t speculate on who any of the real-life people could be,’ Richard Gadd urged sleuths, who immediately tried to trace ‘the real Martha’ after bingeing Baby Reindeer.

‘That’s not the point of our show.’

He’s absolutely right. Baby Reindeer is one of the most important television moments in recent memory, an exploration of trauma that has never been portrayed so authentically, resonating with victims of various kinds of assault like nothing before it.

But the show was inevitably going to end up in the mess it finds itself in now. 

I was broken watching the whole thing in one sitting. In parts trying to suffocate memories of my own gay trauma, which was bubbling to the surface while also completely blown away by Gadd’s story-telling.

If, somehow, you’re still unaware of the concept behind Baby Reindeer, the seven episodes tell the true story of Gadd’s experience, playing a struggling comedian called Donny who is stalked by a customer called Martha.

‘Martha’ turned up at the pub Gadd was working in without money so he gave her a free Diet Coke out of goodwill. That Diet Coke turned out to come at a greater cost than he could have ever imagined.

In the series, Martha hounds him with 41,000 emails, turns up at his home, attacks his date and invades every single corner of his life.

Halfway through the series, it’s revealed Gadd was also sexually assaulted by a TV writer who promised him career opportunities and we see how the deep PTSD from that experience played a huge part in Donny enabling Martha into his life, his self-worth completely diminished.

It’s an extraordinary experience watching an actor re-enacting their own trauma in such a profoundly detailed and gruesome fashion.

Male victims of sexual assault are coming forward in record numbers after watching Baby Reindeer with We Are Survivors, which offers support for men, seeing an 80% increase in first-time callers since the show’s release in April.

So yes, its importance is undeniable and quality is exceptional.

But, in just a few weeks Gadd’s masterpiece has turned into a mess – which was inevitable.

Despite Gadd’s pleas discouraging people to try and track down ‘the real Martha’, unsurprisingly they weren’t deterred and Fiona Harvey, a woman who claims to be ‘the Real Martha’, was found in days.

One of Gadd’s friends, Sean Foley, was also hounded by Baby Reindeer fans who incorrectly identified him as the TV writer who sexually assaulted Gadd and he’s now in contact with the police.

Strangely though, the interest in discovering the ‘real Darrien’ pales in comparison to hunting the ‘real Martha’ despite claims he is a sexual predator who walks among us, and is arguably far more dangerous.

Baby Reindeer wouldn’t have lost any of its brilliance by tweaking the emails and making Martha a little less… Martha (Picture: Ed Miller/Netflix)

At the very least though, it was naïve of Gadd to think their identities wouldn’t be of huge importance to the viewer, when a huge part of Baby Reindeer’s unique magic is watching this staggeringly difficult true story unfold as it happened.

I doubt he anticipated quite how successful Baby Reindeer would become and subsequently the level of fascination there would be into his life, but surely if Netflix bought the show they had an inkling for its potential to be a huge hit.

Less than a month after Baby Reindeer launched, Fiona – aka ‘the real Martha’ – predictably gave her first televised interview to Piers Morgan. She was paid £250 and the promise of a makeover.

In it, she again claimed she is ‘the real Martha’ but denied sending Gadd 41,000 emails, ever being in love with him and instead claims she gave him the cold shoulder. She went as far as saying it was actually Gadd who was ‘obsessed’ with her.

‘It’s been horrendous,’ she said of her life since the show’s release. 

‘It’s a work of fiction, hyperbole, and there are two true facts in that he’s Richard Gadd and was a jobbing barman.’

It was an incredibly uncomfortable watch. Partly because quite rightly few journalists would touch this interview with a barge pole given the allegations made in Baby Reindeer, and secondly, it was a car crash interview of a woman who did not ask to be thrust into the spotlight, unwittingly pleading her case to deaf ears.

It’s not her fault though that she’s been pushed to have to say something.

With millions of people believing Fiona is the alleged stalker in question, she could hardly stay silent when Baby Reindeer has become one of the most successful Netflix shows of all time already and she will inevitably become one of the most recognisable faces in the UK.

That in itself, no matter the truth or intention behind Baby Reindeer, is terrifying for someone who did not ask or expect to become a public figure so controversially.

Fiona left the interview saying she felt ‘set up’ by Piers after their ‘sparring match’. He’s now said she ‘lied quite a lot’ throughout the interview, but insisted she is also ‘a victim’.

Even Gadd stressed too he only has empathy for his stalker and ultimately that’s what Baby Reindeer tried to get across – and it absolutely did.

But all attempts to protect her identity were thrown out of the window when it was confirmed the emails from Martha were all a word for word replica of the messages Gadd received. All it took was a quick copy and paste of those messages into social media and voila, up popped Fiona.

After watching Fiona it’s also now clear Jessica Gunning – who is remarkable as Martha in Baby Reindeer – was cast because she could play Martha almost exactly how Gadd saw his stalker, which Fiona appears to resemble uncannily.

It’s now clear Jessica Gunning was cast because she could play Martha almost exactly how Gadd saw his stalker (Picture: Araya Doheny/Getty Images)

There is no question Gadd had to tell this story and how he’s told it is in part why Baby Reindeer captured so much adoration. But initially, Gadd claimed even the ‘real Martha’ wouldn’t be able to identify herself.

When her real messages have been used and she’s potentially been so accurately impersonated, surely it was going to be blatantly obvious to the ‘real Martha’ that her life was the subject of a huge Netflix success and subsequently she would want to state her case.

Baby Reindeer wouldn’t have lost any of its brilliance by tweaking the emails and making Martha a little less… Martha.

What Gadd has achieved with Baby Reindeer is fully deserved. Few dramas have such an impact to change lives as quickly as Baby Reindeer has and open eyes to a perspective people had been blind to – both when it comes to male assault and the experience of stalking.

But with two glaring clues pointing to the ‘real Martha’, Baby Reindeer was inevitably going to be the masterpiece that turned into this mess.

Baby Reindeer is available to stream on Netflix now.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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