Baby Reindeer star Richard Gadd responds to speculation over show’s real-life characters

Richard Gadd has asked fans to stop speculating over the inspiration for his Netflix series

The star and creator of Baby Reindeer has urged would-be internet sleuths to stop trying to uncover the identities of the real people who inspired the story.

Since its launch on Netflix earlier this month, Richard Gadd’s seven-part series based on his true experience of being stalked has become one of the most-discussed TV projects of the year, with fans marvelling at a particular hidden reference used throughout the show.

Starring Gadd as a fictionalised version of himself, a bartender and fledgling comedian named Donny, and Jessica Gunning as Martha, a lonely woman who begins to invade all areas of his life, Baby Reindeer shows how their relationship quickly became problematic and abusive.

Although the story is rooted in real events, Gadd changed names and specific details of the story to protect the identities of the people involved.

Social media detectives, however, have made efforts to uncover the people who inspired the tale, claiming to have discovered not only “Martha”, but the person behind the TV executive who groomed and sexually assaulted Donny in the show.

On Monday evening (22 April), Gadd addressed some viewers’ intrigue about the real-life figures, and named director and writer Sean Foley as someone “unfairly caught up in speculation”.

“Hi everyone,” Gadd began his post on Instagram Stories.

“People I love, have worked with, and admire (including Sean Foley) are unfairly 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. Lots of love, Richard x X.”