Baby Reindeer creator and star Richard Gadd has described the “intolerable pressure” that has come with success for his Netflix drama detailing his experience as an aspiring stand-up comedian, who receives excessive unwanted attention from a fan.
Gadd’s autobiographical piece, originally a play, was released by Netflix in April 2024, and gone on to become one of the platform’s top 10 most viewed shows of all times. It has also garnered six Emmy Awards, four Golden Globes and goes into this evening’s BAFTA TV Awards in the UK with six nominations.
Gadd told The Guardian newspaper:
“There have been a lot of challenging moments. The show has reached such an extreme pitch – there have been times when I’ve felt like the pressure was intolerable. It’s been a hurricane. I don’t think I’m at the point of reflection yet. I need some real time off to figure out how to get my feet back on ground, because I feel very squeezed.”
Gadd detailed how his life changed overnight on the release last year of the drama on Netflix:
“It came out on a Thursday, and by Sunday people were knocking on my door asking for autographs. I was an arthouse comedian, performing to five people every night, so it was a huge adjustment. I’m still getting used to it. Going to the supermarket comes with a million caveats now.”
Soon after its release, fans of the show turned internet sleuth and identified Fiona Harvey as the woman depicted in the drama as Gadd’s stalker, Harvey filed a $170m lawsuit against Netflix for defamation. Harvey claimed that the darkly comic series, which was billed as a “true story,” portrayed her via the Martha character as “a twice-convicted stalker who was sentenced to five years in prison.” Harvey has never been convicted of stalking Gadd and she argued the series was “the biggest lie in television history.”
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