Richard Gadd on Netflix’s Baby Reindeer and his real-life story of stalking and trauma: ‘I’ve lived in a prison of self-hate’
Richard Gadd is waiting for the other shoe to drop. We’re speaking over video three days before the release of Baby Reindeer, the seven-part Netflix series fictionalising the Scottish comedian’s protracted experiences with a stalker. “Three more sleeps,” he says, as if it were Christmas. “I go through sort of giddy excitement, and feelings of pride… all the way to just being insecure. It’s just a big exposing time – but I’m well up for the ride.”
Before it was a Netflix series, was a one-man stage play. It follows – named Donny Dunn in the series – who works a day job as a bartender. One day, a woman, called Martha in the show and played by Jessica Gunning, walks into the pub, claiming she’s a lawyer but can’t afford a drink. Out of empathy, or perhaps just rank pity, Donny gives her a cup of tea. From thereon in, she clings to his life like a limpet, first as a sort-of friend, and then, quickly, as a relentless harasser. This,
