The real twist in Netflix hit ‘Baby Reindeer’: It’s turned curious viewers into stalkers

It’s the gripping show, inspired by a true story, that has now spawned a new real-life drama.

“Baby Reindeer,” Netflix’s most-watched series of the past two weeks, stars Scottish actor Richard Gadd as Donny Dunn — a struggling comedian and bartender who becomes the object of a woman’s obsession after he serves her a cup of tea.

Adapted from Gadd’s 2019 one-man stage show, the seven-episode series has become a global juggernaut, with viewers multiplying faster than a Mogwai fed after midnight.

Within the first few minutes of meeting Donny’s stalker, Martha, it’s obvious that viewers have stepped onto a wild, complex and confusing ride.

Zaftig and disheveled, Martha is also clever and cheerful. Her chirpy Scottish accent belies a disturbing obession with Donny, whom she nicknames “baby reindeer.”

Initially dark but funny, the show becomes chilling and manic. Unhinged.

Martha isn’t the only monkey on Donny’s back. She’s just the latest. Our main character, it’s revealed, was groomed and raped by a powerful comedy writer named Darrien O’Connor.

As Netflix marketing makes clear, “Baby Reindeer” is also based on a true story — a fact that makes it all the more harrowing.

In “Baby Reindeer” which is based on a true story, Jessica Gunning plays Martha, who stalks Richard Gadd’s character, Donny Dunn. Ed Miller/Netflix In “Baby Reindeer” which is based on Richard Gadd’s real life expereience of being stalked by an older woman and sexually abused by an older man, he plays Donny Dunn, a struggling stand-up comedian. Ed Miller/Netflix

And let’s face it, enticing: When the series ends, the story doesn’t. There remain more mysteries to be solved.

Who is the real Martha — a woman who over the course of five years, Gadd said, sent him 41,071 emails, 744 tweets, 106 pages of letters and 350 hours of voicemail messages?

And how about Darrien, the man who set Donny down a path of self-destruction and self-loathing?

It’s almost Pavolvian. Watch the show, then embark on a deep Google dive.

The popularity of “Baby Reindeer” has sparked an aggressive effort online to find the real identities of Gadd’s abusers. Ed Miller/Netflix

But in that pursuit, many viewers have become as rabid and obsessive as Martha herself.

Olivier Award-winning actor Sean Foley has been harassed and publicly accused of being Darrien.

“Police have been informed and are investigating all defamatory abusive and threatening posts against me,” he wrote on X.

Viewers have also combed through the social media accounts of the woman said to be the real-life Martha.

Since its premiere on April 11, “Baby Reindeer” has become a buzzy topic of conversation. Netflix “Baby Reindeer” has been the most-watched show on Netflix for the past two weeks. Netflix

After being named by The Sun, she told the Daily Mail that she is a “victim” and being “bullied for fame,” adding that she’s had death threats.

Gadd has taken to instagram to tell amateur sleuths that they should, simply, let sleeping dogs lie.

“Hi Everyone, People I love, have worked with, and admire (including Sean Foley) are unfairly getting caught up in speculation,” he wrote. “Please don’t speculate on who any of the real life people could be. That’s not the point of our show.”

Jessica Gunning, the actress who portrays Martha, added of the pile-on: “It’s a real, real shame…because it shows that they haven’t watched the show properly.” 

It’s a modern dilemma: What happens when a show about a stalker unleashes a whole army of online stalkers?

Jessica Gunning plays Martha, a stalker. Ed Miller/Netflix

What are the ethics and perils of blending fact and fiction in the age of social media, when everyone has tools to investigate and a platform to yell out their conspiracy theories, sometimes in very compelling and persuasive ways?

Gadd has said he intentionally blurred the characters’ real identities.

But it would be naive not to see this coming, given the Western world’s obsession with the true-crime genre and resulting proliferation of self-styled cyber sleuths. Voyeuristic hits like the podcast “Serial” and docuseries “Making a Murderer” not only gripped us, they gave us a more active role in unraveling the truth.

Remember when “Tiger King” sparked a fever around Carole Baskin and claims that she murdered her husband?

Scottish writer and actor Richard Gadd said he tried to obscure the real identities of his abusers. Dave Benett/Getty Images for Tara Finney Productions

It’s ironic. While rooting for Gadd to escape the physical and emotional clutches of his tormenters, many viewers have given into similarly bad impulses.

Maybe they aren’t sick like our deranged Martha. But, collectively, they’ve harnessed the power of the internet and social media to disturbing effect.

With so much of our lives lived online, alienation, loneliness and the search for meaning and community can lead to a dark path.

This unintended sequel to “Baby Reindeer” is less about Gadd, Martha and Darrien — and more about us and the hole we’re trying to fill.