The comic, his stalker, and a huge hit for Netflix
BABY REINDEER is dark and difficult, bold and original — an exceptional piece of television which tells the story of a failed comic trying to make it at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, his stalker, and a dark secret in his past.
It is also a surprise global smash-hit for Netflix. Figures reveal that the show — whose commercial prospects you might not have fancied much, given the subject matter — is in the Top 10 in America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
In the UK, it is at No 1 in its first week of release, leap-frogging over Guy Ritchie’s much-hyped gangsters-and-toffs comedy, The Gentlemen.
It is No 5 among English TV titles globally, ahead of the big-budget Ripley, starring Andrew Scott.
The story is based on the real life of its writer and star Richard Gadd, who was sent more than 41,000 emails by a stalker. It’s unsparing in its treatment of comedian Donny, based on Gadd, who attracts the attention of ‘Martha’ (Jessica Gunning) after offering her a cup of tea, on the house, in a pub.
Gadd said: ‘I think there was a version of the show where I hid from my mistakes a bit, and I’m a perfect, nice guy. But I made mistakes. Sometimes Donny would play into her fantasy: he’d flirt back, and she’d be absolutely thrilled. He just doesn’t know how obsessed she will become.’
The show makes use of real emails sent to Gadd by his stalker — as well as more than 350 hours of voicemails. Gadd said: ‘It was one of the most intense periods, when I was listening to these voicemails. I’d go to sleep at night and her words would bounce around my eyelids.’
Gadd’s next project will be a six-part coming of age drama, Lions, for the BBC. The BBC says it is ‘surprising, funny and highly original’.