Baby Reindeer’s Richard Gadd urges fans not to ‘speculate’ about the identities of characters

Richard Gadd, the writer and star of Baby Reindeer has posted to Instagram telling his followers: ‘Please don’t speculate on who any of the real life people could be”.

The limited series depicts events from Gadd's life, where he was stalked in his early 20s by an unknown Scottish woman. Throughout this period he received over thousands of emails and hundreds of hours’ worth of voicemails.

In the series, Gadd plays Donny, the stalking victim, and Jessica Gunning takes on the role of Martha, the stalker. Yet viewers have been speculating Martha’s real identity.

The hashtag ‘#babyreindeer’ has garnered over 556M views on TikTok, with some creators using the hashtag claiming to have found the real Martha in their videos.

When asked about the investigative internet sleuths in an interview with Glamour, Gunning said: “I didn't know that was happening. I would urge people not to be doing that.

"I think if that is happening, I think it's a real, real shame, because it shows that they haven't watched the show properly.”

Fans of the show are also attempting to discover Darrien’s real identity, a character based on a male TV writer who sexually assaulted Gadd.

In his Instagram statement, Gadd said people who he has worked with and admire are “unfairly getting caught up in speculation.”

He added: “That’s not the point of our show.”

Baby Reindeer was released on Netflix on 11 April and has stayed at the No. 1 spot on Netflix’s Global Top 10 TV show chart with 13.3 million views, equating to 52.8 million hours viewed.

The show is based on Richard Gadd’s one-man plays Monkey See, Monkey Do and Baby Reindeer which were both on at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2016 and 2019, respectively.

In 2020, Baby Reindeer won an Oliver Award for Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre for its run at the Bush Theatre in Shepherds Bush, London.