Featured Image Credit: Netflix / Samir Hussein / WireImage
Topics: Netflix, Baby Reindeer, TV and Film, TV, Viral, UK News
Tom Earnshaw
Topics: Netflix, Baby Reindeer, TV and Film, TV, Viral, UK News
Baby Reindeer is the latest Netflix phenomenon to take the world by storm, with millions tuning in to the autobiographical drama that has become a world-of-mouth sensation.
But its creator and leading star, Richard Gadd, has found himself bombarded by armchair detectives spending their downtime trying to discovery the identities of the real life people involved in the story.
And he's now come out with a new statement on the identity of the characters the show is based on.
The show focuses on Donny Dunn, a fictionalised version of Gadd, who finds himself stalked by former lawyer Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning). It's not a new piece of work, by any means, with it based on Gadd's critically-acclaimed autobiographical one-man show of the same name.
Martha is based on Gadd's real-life stalker, with viewers eager to find out who she is.
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They have also been trying to track down the individual in the television industry that abused Gadd, as shown in episode four of the mini-series.
That character's name is Darrien O'Connor, portrayed by Tom Goodman-Hill, who entices Dunn with promises of TV writing fame before getting him hooked on drugs and abusing him.
Things have blown up that much that veteran journalist Piers Morgan did a sit down interview with a woman that has been dubbed the 'real life Martha', a Scottish lady called Fiona Harvey, for his Talk TV show Piers Morgan Uncensored.
Gadd came out after Baby Reindeer debuted on Netflix to ask people to stop speculating about who the real life Martha and Darrien are, saying that wasn't the point in putting the one-man show and then series together in the first place.
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On the identities of the show's real life characters, Gadd has issued a new statement in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Speaking to the US outlet, he says: "I don’t agree with the sleuth thing. I’ve put out a statement publicly saying I want the show to be received as a piece of art, and I want the show to people to enjoy as a piece of art.
"I’m called Donny Dunn. It exists in a sort of fictional realm, even though it’s based on truth, it exists in a fictional realm, let’s enjoy the world that I’ve created.
"If I wanted the real life people to be found, I would’ve made it a documentary.
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"I’ve spoken publicly about how I don’t want people to do it and if I start playing a game of whack-a-mole, then I’m almost adding to it. I don’t think I’ll ever comment on it ever again."
Gadd has found stardom a little 'crazy', he says, with legendary horror novelist Stephen King following the show and even writing about it.
The Scot has also received a video message from WWE superstar John Cena, with Gadd saying: "The [encounter] that meant the most to me along with the Pogues was actually John Cena. He sent me a private video talking about the show and how much he liked it.
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"I’m a big wrestling fan and a big John Cena fan, so that kind of blew my mind. It meant a lot to me."
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Netflix has defended itself when it comes to protecting the real identities of the characters in Baby Reindeer, with the streaming service's policy chief Benjamin King saying he was 'satisfied with duty of care standards on the show'.
He said: “We didn’t want to anonymise [the authenticity of Gadd’s story] or make it generic to the point where it was no longer his story because that would undermine the intent behind the show.
“Ultimately, it’s obviously very difficult to control what viewers do, particularly in a world where everything is amplified by social media. I personally wouldn’t be comfortable with a world in which we decided it was better that Richard was silenced and not allowed to tell the story.”