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Baby Reindeer’s Richard Gadd and Jessica Gunning condemn real Martha speculation

Baby Reindeer's Richard Gadd and Jessica Gunning condemn real Martha speculation

"That's not the point of our show."

Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd and Martha actress Jessica Gunning have criticised fans of the Netflix hit series who have been attempting to uncover the identities of people who inspired characters from the show.

The deeply sinister yet irrefutably compelling series is a fictionalised retelling of Gadd's own very real experiences with a female stalker.

The Scottish writer has been very vocal about the four years of stalking he endured at the hands of a woman who adopted the nickname of “baby reindeer” for him, with his stalker sending a shocking 41,071 emails, 350 hours of voicemail, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages and 106 pages of letters through the years, along with a string of unsettling gifts ranging from sleeping pills to a reindeer toy.

Baby Reindeer's Richard Gadd and Jessica Gunning condemn real Martha speculation

Ed Miller/Netflix

Since its release on 11 April, Baby Reindeer has proven a hit among fans, with it making its way into Netflix's global top 10 TV shows less than one week into its release.

However, after finishing the series many have been left with the lingering question of… who is the real Martha? Likewise, viewers have made efforts to uncover the real identities of Darrien and Teri.

Richard previously told GQ that the team on Baby Reindeer had “gone to such great lengths to disguise her to the point that I don’t think she would recognise herself. What’s been borrowed is an emotional truth, not a fact-by-fact profile of someone."

He did, however add that the series is “pretty truthful,” explaining: “Any time it veered too much into embellishment I would always want to pull it back. It’s extremely emotionally truthful."

“Of course, this is a medium where structure is so important, you need to change things to protect people… but I like to think, artistically, that it never moved too far from the truth.”

However, while this hasn't put off fans from trying to trace the identities of the real people who inspired the characters in Baby Reindeer, Richard Gadd has now spoken out to condemn this.

Baby Reindeer's Richard Gadd and Jessica Gunning condemn real Martha speculation

Ed Miller/Netflix

Richard Gadd on the real Martha

Gadd took to Instagram Stories with the following statement: “Hi Everyone. People I love, have worked with, and admire are unfairly getting caught up in speculation. Please don't speculate on who any of the real life people could be. That's not the point of our show.”

Throughout interviews, Gadd has reinforced his view of his stalker as having been a victim too. In an interview with the Independent, the Baby Reindeer creator said: "I can’t emphasise enough how much of a victim she is in all this.”

He expanded, “When we think of stalkers, we always think of films like Misery and Fatal Attraction, where the stalker is a monstrous figure in the night down an alleyway. But usually, it’s a prior relationship or someone you know or a work colleague. Stalking and harassment is a form of mental illness. It would have been wrong to paint her as a monster, because she’s unwell, and the system has failed her.”

Jessica Gunning on Baby Reindeer's real Martha

In an interview with GLAMOUR UK, when asked how she felt about people trying to find Gadd's stalker's real identity online, Jessica Gunning said: “I didn't know that was 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. That's not the point of it in any way.”

She added: “I think they should try and watch the show again, and really see what the point of it was – it definitely wasn't that. I deliberately didn't want to do an impersonation of somebody, I wanted to do an interpretation of this character.”