This article contains spoilers for Baby Reindeer (2024)

Summary

• Baby Reindeer is based on true events from creator and star Richard Gadd's real life, but some details like "Martha"'s fate were altered for the screen adaptation.
• Richard Gadd obtained a restraining order against his real-life stalker just like Donny in Baby Reindeer, but the real "Martha" did not go to prison.
• Although Richard Gadd has kept the true identity of his stalker hidden, a woman named Fiona Harvey has come forward claiming to be the inspiration behind Martha and threatening to sue Netflix for her alleged portrayal in Baby Reindeer.

The true story basis of Baby Reindeer raises the question about what happened to the real Martha Scott after the events of the Netflix miniseries. Baby Reindeer is the screen adaptation of Scottish comedian Richard Gadd's one-man stage show of the same name about a struggling comedian who is relentlessly stalked by a woman named Martha after serving her at the pub where he works. As indicated by the disclaimer in the first episode, the events of Baby Reindeer are based on a true story, in which Gadd was stalked by an older woman in his 20s.

In addition to writing all seven episodes, Gadd plays the fictionalized version of himself named Donny in the miniseries, which quickly climbed to the #1 spot on Netflix's Top 10 list after premiering on April 11, 2024. Although Gadd insists that Baby Reindeer is "extremely emotionally truthful" (via GQ) to his experience, he notes that the character of Martha, played by Jessica Gunning onscreen, is "not a fact-by-fact profile" of his real-life stalker. In addition to changing her name, Gadd also altered his stalker's fate from what actually happened to the real "Martha" after the events of Baby Reindeer.

All seven episodes of Baby Reindeer are available to stream on Netflix.

Richard Gadd Obtained A Restraining Order Against Baby Reindeer's Real Martha

Unlike Martha In Baby Reindeer, Gadd's Real-Life Stalker Did Not Go To Prison

Baby Reindeer's ending shows Martha getting arrested on three counts of stalking and harassment after indirectly threatening to stab Donny and his parents in a voicemail message. Martha is sentenced to nine months in prison after pleading guilty on all three counts. Donny is also granted a five-year restraining order against Martha and indicates that her plea hearing was the last time he ever saw her. However, the outcome of Baby Reindeer is not exactly how the events played out in Gadd's real life.

It appears the real "Martha" wasn't incarcerated for her crimes against Gadd, though, as he told The Times that he "didn’t want to throw someone who was that level of mentally unwell in prison."

By the time of Gadd's interview with The Guardian shortly after the Baby Reindeer stage show premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2019, the real "Martha" had "finally [been] restrained from contacting [Gadd] himself." However, the duration of his restraining order and the exact date it was granted are unknown.

It appears the real "Martha" wasn't incarcerated for her crimes against Gadd, though, as he told The Times he "didn’t want to throw someone who was that level of mentally unwell in prison." In September 2019, "Martha" was "still at large" and had only recently stopped harassing Gadd's friends and family at the time. Gadd speculated that seeing the Baby Reindeer stage show in the press might have "made her think twice about her behaviour."

​​​​​​Richard Gadd Hasn't Publicly Revealed Where The Real Martha Is Today

Gadd Has Kept Martha's True Identity Hidden

Other than Gadd's restraining order against her and her lack of jail time, very little is known about what happened to the real "Martha" since Gadd has kept her real identity concealed. In addition to using the pseudonym "Martha," Gadd noted that he "went to such great lengths to disguise her" in the Netflix adaptation of Baby Reindeer that he believes she would not even recognize herself. To this day, Gadd has never publicly revealed his stalker's real name nor where she is now.

As of 2024, though, Gadd feels the situation is "resolved," suggesting that his stalker has finally left him and his loved ones alone. Although he still has "mixed feelings" about the whole thing, Gadd empathizes with his stalker immensely. “I can’t emphasize enough how much of a victim she is in all this,” he told the Independent in 2019. Gadd later shared with Radio Times that he "saw someone who was unwell, needed help, [and] was quite vulnerable," all of which comes through very clearly and masterfully in Baby Reindeer.

To this day, Gadd has never publicly revealed his stalker's real name nor where she is now.

After some viewers accused 59-year-old theater director Sean Foley of being Gadd's real-life rapist, named Darrien O'Connor in Baby Reindeer, based on his resemblance to actor Tom Goodman-Hill who portrays the character, the Baby Reindeer creator pleaded with viewers to stop searching for the characters' true identities. "Please don't speculate on who any of the real-life people could be," Gadd wrote in a since-expired Instagram story. "That's not the point of our show."

Fiona Harvey: The Woman Accused Of Being The Real-Life Martha & What She's Said

The 58-Year-Old Scottish Woman Allegedly Inspired The Character In Baby Reindeer

Though Gadd remains committed to keeping his characters' real-life identities under wraps, a woman named Fiona Harvey is claiming to be the inspiration behind Martha Scott in Baby Reindeer. In a since-deleted Facebook post, the 58-year-old lawyer originally from Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, said she first met Gadd while he was working at The Hawley Arms pub in Camden, London, but denies being a stalker. Instead, Harvey claimed that Gadd "asked [her] out and stalked [her] years ago" and that he wouldn't take no for an answer. "He’s using Baby Reindeer to stalk me now," Harvey told The Daily Mail.

Baby Reindeer viewers first began to speculate that Harvey might be the real Martha after a tweet of hers resurfaced online, in which she tagged Gadd and told him, "my curtains need hung badly."

“I read about Baby Reindeer when it came up at the [Edinburgh] Fringe," Harvey told The Scottish Sun, referring to Gadd's original one-man show from 2019. "He’s come up with this character called Martha and he has put me right in the frame." Now that he has adapted the stage production into a hit Netflix series, Harvey feels that Gadd is "bullying an older woman on television for fame and fortune. I’m the victim. He’s written a bloody show about me," she told The Daily Mail.

Baby Reindeer viewers first began to speculate that Harvey might be the real Martha after a tweet of hers resurfaced online, in which she tagged Gadd and told him, "my curtains need hung badly." In Baby Reindeer, there is a running bit about Donny offering to help Martha "hang her curtains," which Harvey confirmed to The Daily Mail is "a euphemism for saying, 'I want to sleep with you.'"

The "highly competent lawyer" is planning to sue Netflix for her alleged portrayal in Baby Reindeer.

Since then, Harvey said she's received "death threats and abuse from Richard Gadd supporters." Now, the "highly competent lawyer" is planning to sue Netflix for her alleged portrayal in Baby Reindeer. “I have a claim against Netflix as this is being billed as part of a true story," Harvey revealed to The Scottish Sun. "If he wanted me to be properly anonymous, he could have done so," she told The Daily Mail. "Gadd should leave me alone."

Sources: GQ, The Guardian, The Times, Independent, Radio Times, X, The Daily Mail, The Scottish Sun, X