Maker of hit series Baby Reindeer about stalking: ‘Please don’t look for the perpetrator’ | Movies & Series

Als je pas een avondje Netflix achter de rug hebt, dan is de kans groot dat je Baby Reindeer voorbij hebt zien komen. De serie staat al twee weken in de top tien van best bekeken producties van Netflix. Ook op sociale media is de serie over stalking het onderwerp van gesprek.

Gadd moest voor zijn hoofdrol in Baby Reindeer de traumatische periode waarin hij gestalkt werd letterlijk herbeleven. Andere personages in de serie zijn gebaseerd op echte personen uit zijn leven. Zo ook zijn stalker (Martha in de serie).

Baby Reindeer gaat over de periode waarin Gadd hard werkt aan zijn carrière als comedian. Met lege zalen en oorverdovende stiltes lijkt het hem nooit te lukken om zijn droom waar te maken. Omdat hij toch geld moet verdienen, werkt hij als barman in een bruin café.

One day Martha comes in, a middle-aged woman who is visibly not feeling well. Gadd decides to offer her a cup of tea on the house. He should not have done that: from that point on the comedian is the center of Martha’s life.

It starts innocently with short emails and interest in Gadd’s shows. But Martha’s obsession soon turns into something dangerous. He receives hundreds of emails a day and her messages are increasingly taking on a sexual charge. Martha visits him every day at work, becomes violent and stands outside his house for nights.

When Gadd reports the incident to the police, he does not tell the whole story. He feels sorry for Martha and secretly enjoys the attention; after all, he has always considered himself a failure. A previous trauma about sexual abuse also makes the situation complicated for the comedian. But when Martha also starts harassing his parents and his new girlfriend, he has to take action.

It was tough for Gadd to replay his memories for the series. “I even saw that people from the film crew were affected by the scenes,” he says in an interview with The Guardian. “But we all knew we were on our way to something important.” Gadd hopes that the series will draw attention to stalking and sexual abuse of men.

The series has been on Netflix since April 11 and is already a great success: in less than a week Baby Reindeer already viewed millions of times.

But there is also a negative aspect to the series’ popularity: fans are curious to know who the real people behind the characters are. A veritable witch hunt has arisen on social media. Photos of people who look like the characters and have similarities with the stories are circulating online. For example, a scriptwriter is accused by fans of sexual abuse.

Gadd reacts with shock to this development. On social media he calls on everyone not to look for the real people behind the characters. “People I love, have worked with and admire are wrongly caught up in speculation,” the comedian wrote on Instagram. “Please don’t speculate about who the real people might be. That’s not the point of our show.”