Baby Reindeer

Baby Reindeer
Promotional poster
Genre	Drama Black comedy Psychological thriller Autobiographical
Created by	Richard Gadd
Based on	Baby Reindeer by Richard Gadd
Directed by	Weronika Tofilska Josephine Bornebusch
Starring	Richard Gadd Jessica Gunning Nava Mau
Music by	Evgueni Galperine Sacha Galperine
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of episodes	7
Production
Executive producers	Richard Gadd Wim De Greef Petra Fried Matt Jarvis Ed Macdonald
Producer	Matthew Mulot
Production locations	Edinburgh London
Running time	27–45 minutes
Production company	Clerkenwell Films
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	11 April 2024 (2024-04-11)

Baby Reindeer is a British black comedy drama-thriller miniseries created by and starring Richard Gadd. An adaptation of Gadd's autobiographical one-man show of the same name, the series is based on Gadd's real-life experience of being stalked and sexually assaulted in his twenties. Directed by Weronika Tofilska and Josephine Bornebusch, it stars Gadd, Jessica Gunning, and Nava Mau.

The series consists of seven episodes, which all simultaneously premiered on Netflix on 11 April 2024. It received critical acclaim and topped Netflix's Global Weekly Top 10 TV (English).

Plot

The storyline is based on creator Richard Gadd's real-life experience in his twenties of being stalked by a customer in a pub where he worked, and sexually assaulted by a comedy writer who takes him under his wing. He subsequently created a one-man show based on these experiences, and the series grew from that.

Cast and characters

Main

• Richard Gadd as Donny Dunn, a fictionalised version of Gadd
• Jessica Gunning as Martha Scott, a former lawyer with a criminal past
• Nava Mau as Teresa "Teri", a therapist Donny meets on a trans dating site

Recurring

• Nina Sosanya as Liz, Keeley's mother and Donny's landlady
• Michael Wildman as Greggsy, owner of the pub Donny works in
• Danny Kirrane as Gino, Donny's co-worker
• Thomas Coombes as Officer Daniels, an incompetent police officer
• Shalom Brune-Franklin as Keeley, Donny's ex-girlfriend

Guest

• Tom Durant Pritchard as Jason, host of a comedy competition
• Laura Smyth as Glenda, M.C. of the comedy competition
• Tom Goodman-Hill as Darrien O'Connor, a television writer who takes Donny under his wing
• Will Hislop as Billy, a fellow comedian
• Amanda Root as Elle, Donny's mother
• Mark Lewis Jones as Gerry, Donny's father
• Hugh Coles as Francis, Donny's friend from drama school
• Alexandria Riley as Detective Culver, the detective assigned to Donny's case

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Episode 1"	Weronika Tofilska	Richard Gadd	11 April 2024 (2024-04-11)
In 2015, while working at a pub in London, struggling comedian Donny Dunn gives a free cup of tea to a distraught customer. The customer, Martha Scott, becomes a regular, claiming she is a wealthy lawyer and entertaining Donny with stories. She becomes increasingly flirtatious, calling him "Baby Reindeer" and other nicknames. She begins emailing him hundreds of times a day, making him uncomfortable. He reluctantly takes her for coffee but is disturbed when Martha has a public outburst. He follows her home, discovering she lives in a cluttered apartment on a council estate, and flees after she notices him. Martha views this as a development in their relationship. She shows up uninvited to Donny's performance at a local comedy competition, and her interruptions help him secure a position in the semi-finals. She confesses her love to Donny, has another outburst when he tries to let her down politely, and sends him a friend request on Facebook. Donny discovers that she is a convicted stalker. He nevertheless accepts her friend request.
2	"Episode 2"	Weronika Tofilska	Richard Gadd	11 April 2024 (2024-04-11)
Donny has secretly been dating Teri, a transgender American therapist. Despite seeking out a trans partner, Donny is ashamed of his feelings and has told Teri he is a builder named Tony. Martha's stalking intensifies. She leaves comments on every photo on Donny's Facebook profile and jealously sends harassing messages to his ex-girlfriend Keeley, whose mother, Liz, is Donny's landlady. Martha also begins to follow him home after his shifts at the pub. Teri encourages Donny to go to the police but he refuses, believing that Martha is harmless. He attempts to get his co-workers to ban her from the pub, but one of them sends her a reply from Donny's account asking for anal sex as a joke, leading her to believe he returns her feelings. Donny has a successful date with Teri while high on cocaine, but when Teri asks Donny to kiss her in public, he panics and abandons her on the Underground. As he walks home, Martha follows him, pushes him against a wall, and gropes his crotch.
3	"Episode 3"	Weronika Tofilska	Richard Gadd	11 April 2024 (2024-04-11)
Donny confesses his actions and real name to Teri, who angrily asks him to leave. Martha befriends Liz under a false name, leaving a scantily clad photo of herself in Donny's bedroom. Donny threatens her with the police, and she disappears from his home and work only to appear as a permanent fixture at a bus stop across from his home. Donny becomes sympathetic to Martha as she lapses into a fugue state but asks her to leave him alone, framing it as a breakup in an attempt to give her closure. Martha's contact with Donny briefly ceases. Teri shows up at the comedy semi-finals, interested in giving Donny a second chance. His performance is interrupted when Martha begins heckling him from the audience, escalating to a violent rage when he mocks her from the stage. She is thrown out but later tries to break into his dressing room before pursuing him and Teri. Teri and Donny agree to resume their relationship. Their date is interrupted when an enraged Martha assaults Teri, pulling out a chunk of her hair.
4	"Episode 4"	Weronika Tofilska	Richard Gadd	11 April 2024 (2024-04-11)
After six months, Donny attempts to report Martha to the police. When the officer asks him why it took him so long to report her, he flashes back to a few years earlier. As a young comedian he has a chance encounter with Darrien, the writer of a successful television show, who has worked with Donny's comedy idols. Darrien mentors him and encourages him to move to London, before suddenly disappearing from his life. Donny moves to Oxford and attends drama school, where he meets and moves in with Keeley. He gets a call from Darrien and begins writing a television pilot under his guidance. Darrien encourages Donny to do drugs and sexually assaults him while he is high. Not realising Darrien is grooming him, Donny spends regular weekend-long drug-fuelled "working sessions" at Darrien's apartment, impacting his relationship with Keeley. During these drug binges, Donny blacks out and is assaulted by Darrien, culminating in Darrien raping him while he is on LSD and GHB. Donny finally leaves Darrien but his relationship with Keeley breaks down. He realises that he is attracted to men but associates his feelings with his assault and feels shame, beginning a period of unsafe sex with a variety of partners. In the present, due to his guilt over Darrien's assault and never reporting him, Donny fails to give the police an accurate report of Martha's stalking.
5	"Episode 5"	Josephine Bornebusch	Richard Gadd	11 April 2024 (2024-04-11)
Martha is banned from Donny's pub after causing a scene while he is working. After she assaults Keeley on the street, Liz asks Donny to move out. He moves into a new flat with friends from drama school but is dismayed to learn that they spend every night throwing drug-fuelled parties. He spends increasing time with Teri, hiding in her flat and coming out to her as bisexual for the first time. Their relationship begins to suffer due to her trauma over Martha's attack and his inability to maintain an erection, caused by his trauma from Martha and Darrien. Teri convinces him to report Martha again. At the station, he finally gets an officer to look up Martha. After realising she has prior convictions, the police take the case seriously. Martha complies with the police and ceases contact with Donny. However, he finds himself obsessing over her and even masturbating to her image. This helps him successfully have sex with Teri, and their relationship improves. His mother leaves a frantic voicemail, having been told by Martha that Donny is in hospital after an accident.
6	"Episode 6"	Josephine Bornebusch	Richard Gadd	11 April 2024 (2024-04-11)
Donny is horrified to realise Martha has begun harassing his parents and has accused his father of being a paedophile, getting him in trouble at work. After the police are unhelpful, Donny tries to entrap Martha into violating no-contact. However, Martha has been recording all their interactions and he is cautioned by the police. As a result, Teri breaks up with him. The day before Donny is set to perform in the comedy competition finals, Martha returns to Donny's pub to harass him. When he brings up her previous stalking charges, she attacks him, smashing a glass into his face. His co-workers convince Donny not to press charges, which would reveal their mismanagement of the pub, and he complies. At the competition, Donny gives up on his act after a joke doesn't land, and instead breaks down on stage, confessing to the audience in frank detail his guilt, shame and self-hatred after his rape, stalking, and his poor management of his relationship with Teri, before walking out of the theatre. NOTE: The episode is dedicated to the memory of Llewellyn Harrison, who worked as a key grip on Baby Reindeer.
7	"Episode 7"	Josephine Bornebusch	Richard Gadd	11 April 2024 (2024-04-11)
A video of Donny's confession goes viral, earning him a significant boost in his career. He thoughtlessly sets an out-of-office message on his email that includes his phone number, leading to Martha gaining access to his phone for the first time. She calls him and threatens to tell his parents about his rape and sexuality. Hoping to pre-empt her, he travels to Fife in Scotland and tells his parents everything. His father confesses that he too was sexually abused, and Donny spends a comforting week with his family. Martha begins calling Donny incessantly, leaving him hundreds of voicemails. The police suggest he listen to the voicemails and report any threats. Over months, his habit of listening to Martha's voicemails becomes an obsession, as he once again begins to pity her and catalogues her messages. However, after she threatens to stab his parents, he finally reports her and she is arrested. Martha is sentenced to nine months in prison and five years of probation. Donny never sees her again. Donny struggles to adjust in a world without Martha's constant presence, shuts himself away at home, and continues building a sequence of events of his relationship with Martha. His roommates call Keeley, who, worried for his mental health, asks him to move back to Liz's house. As he moves back in, he finds the screenplay he was writing for Darrien. In an attempt at closure, he goes to Darrien's apartment, but instead of confronting him, politely chats with him. Darrien, who has seen Donny's video, offers him a writing job. Donny accepts but has a panic attack after leaving. Stopping at a pub, he listens to a voicemail where Martha explains why she calls him "Baby Reindeer": it is because he reminds her of a stuffed animal she would hug when her parents fought, the only positive memory from her childhood. Donny begins to cry, gets his drink, and realises he has forgotten his wallet. The barman, feeling sorry for Donny, gives him the drink on the house, in a mirror of Donny's first encounter with Martha.

Production

Development

The series was announced in December 2020, with Richard Gadd set to write the series and star. Clerkenwell Films was set to produce. Weronika Tofilska was added as the director in August 2022, with Josephine Bornebusch announced as an additional director in March 2023.

Casting

Richard Gadd was cast alongside the series announcement. Jessica Gunning was cast on 26 August 2022. Nava Mau was announced as a cast member in March 2023.

Filming

Filming began in mid-August 2022 in the Grassmarket in Edinburgh, and took place in London in September. Filming wrapped by early March 2023.

Themes and analysis

Baby Reindeer is a black comedy drama-thriller about sexual assault.

Release

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

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 48 critics gave the series a positive review, with an average rating of 8.8/10. 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." On Metacritic, the series holds a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on 14 critics.

Harry Brocklehurst of The Tab, describing the show as "darkly funny, deeply unsettling and very moving", criticised fans of the show, branding them "vile", for attempting to expose the real woman the character "Martha" is based on and speculating which social media accounts might belong to the real person. After further theories about the real-life inspirations for the show's fictional characters emerged online, Gadd asked fans to stop any kind of speculation in an April 2024 statement. After being falsely accused to be the real-life counterpart to the character Darrien, theatre director Sean Foley reported the false allegations to the police. This led to a police investigation. Gadd confirmed that Foley was not behind the character Darrien. On May 8th 2024, Fiona Harvey came forward with a claim as the "real Martha," announced via the X account of Piers Morgan, a day ahead of an interview with him on his online show Piers Morgan Uncensored.

German outlet queer.de said: "The hype is not for nothing. But this series requires strong nerves! It's best not to watch it alone..."

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. On the following week, it climbed to number one and garnered 52.8 million viewing hours.

External links

• Baby Reindeer on Netflix
• Baby Reindeer at IMDb