Contains spoilers for Baby Reindeer.
Baby Reindeer is the latest Netflix drama to take over our TV screens and timelines, with everyone intrigued about the striking and poignant drama that tells the dramatised version of one man's real life experience with a stalker.
Richard Gadd, a comedian, writes and stars in the series which portrays a dramatised version of his own experience with a female stalker. In the series Gadd stars as Donny, a comedian and bartender who is stalked by a woman named Martha (Jessica Gunning) for over six months, after meeting her in the pub he works at one day. Initially feeling sorry for Martha, Donny strikes up a friendship with her, however things soon turn dark when Martha becomes obsessed with Donny, sending him hundreds of emails and voicemails.
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As the series is based on Gadd's real life experience we're very curious to find out what happened to the woman who inspired the character of Martha. Here's everything you need to know.
Where is the real Martha from Baby Reindeer now?
Caution: spoilers ahead
In the Netflix series Martha is a lawyer who becomes obsessed with Donny. However, in real life, Martha is supposedly quite different, with Richard Gadd explaining to GQ, he's never revealed her name to the press and changed the key facts about her for the series.
'We’ve gone to such great lengths to disguise her to the point that I don’t think she would recognise herself,' he said. 'What’s been borrowed is an emotional truth, not a fact-by-fact profile of someone.'
Gadd was also conscious of not painting the character of Martha as 'a monster' because he believes 'she's unwell, and the system's failed her', he told The Independent.
In the series Martha is eventually imprisoned for nine months for stalking Donny and received a five year restraining order, however in real life it's not clear exactly what has happened to Martha.
While speaking to The Times, Gadd seemed to suggest his stalker hadn't been imprisoned, telling the publication he 'didn’t want to throw someone who was that level of mentally unwell in prison'. He also added he had 'mixed feelings about it' and that the situation was now 'resolved'.
Baby Reindeer is available on Netflix now.
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Lydia Venn is Cosmopolitan UK’s Senior Entertainment and Lifestyle Writer. She covers everything from TV and film, to the latest celebrity news. She also writes across our work/life section regularly creating quizzes, covering exciting new food releases and sharing the latest interior must-haves. In her role she’s interviewed everyone from Margot Robbie to Niall Horan, and her work has appeared on an episode of The Kardashians. After completing a degree in English at the University of Exeter, Lydia moved into fashion journalism, writing for the Daily Express, before working as Features Editor at The Tab, where she spoke on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and Talk Radio. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of Gilmore Girls and 00s teen movies, and in her free time can be found with a margarita in hand watching the Real Housewives on repeat. Find her on LinkedIn.
