Baby Reindeer
私のトナカイちゃん
Storyline
The whole story, ending included.
A comedian, his stalker, and the assault he had never told; the 'true story' label brought a lawsuit.
In 2015 Donny Dunn, a Scottish comedian getting nowhere in London, works behind the bar of a pub. When a woman sits crying at the counter, he gives her a cup of tea on the house. Martha Scott says she is a busy, well-connected lawyer, makes him laugh, becomes a regular and calls him her baby reindeer. Soon she is emailing him hundreds of times a day. Donny finds online that she has a conviction for stalking, and accepts her friend request anyway.
Martha follows him home, befriends his landlady under a false name, keeps watch from the bus stop opposite his flat and sexually assaults him in the street. Donny is secretly seeing Teri, a trans American therapist; ashamed of wanting her, he has told her he is a builder called Tony. Martha heckles his semi-final at a comedy competition, then turns on Teri with a stream of transphobic abuse and physically attacks her.
When Donny finally goes to the police he cannot explain why he waited, and the fourth episode shows why. Years earlier, as a young comedian in Edinburgh, he was taken up by Darrien, a successful television writer, who groomed him over weekend writing sessions, plied him with drugs, sexually assaulted him and raped him. Donny never reported it. Afterwards his relationship with his girlfriend, Keeley, fell apart, and he threw himself into reckless sex with people of every gender.
In the present Martha throws a drink in Keeley's face, torments Donny's parents in Scotland and accuses his father of being a paedophile. Donny comes out to Teri as bisexual, but she leaves him when his attempt to trap Martha ends with the police cautioning him. At the pub Martha attacks him, and he hits her back. At the competition final he abandons his set and tells the audience everything: the rape, the stalking, his shame.
The video goes viral. Martha leaves hundreds of voicemails, and Donny goes home to Fife and tells his parents the truth; his father says that he too was sexually abused as a boy, growing up in the Catholic Church. When Martha threatens his parents with violence on a voicemail, the police act. She pleads guilty and is sentenced to nine months in prison. Donny visits Darrien meaning to confront him, accepts a writing job from him instead, and has a panic attack. In a pub he hears the voicemail in which Martha explains the name: he reminds her of a soft toy she used to hug as a child while her parents fought. He weeps, orders a drink and finds he has no wallet. The barman gives it to him for free.
Starring
Richard Gaddas Donny Dunn
A struggling Scottish comedian working in a London pub, whose small kindness to a stranger opens onto years of stalking and an older trauma.
Donny Dunn’s story
Donny wants badly to be seen, and a free cup of tea lets Martha into his life. He accepts her friend request knowing her record; her attention flatters him even as she floods him with emails and sexually assaults him in the street. He cannot tell the police why he waited: years before, a television writer, Darrien, groomed him with drugs and raped him, and he never reported it. He lies to Teri about who he is, comes out to her as bisexual, and loses her when his attempt to trap Martha gets him cautioned. At the final he drops his act and tells the audience everything. The video makes his name, he tells his parents, and Martha is jailed. He takes a job from Darrien, panics, and in a pub is given a drink for free.
Jessica Gunningas Martha Scott
A former lawyer with a conviction for stalking, who fixes on Donny after he gives her a free cup of tea.
Martha Scott’s story
Martha is crying at a pub counter when the barman, Donny, gives her a free cup of tea, and he becomes the centre of her life. She says she is a busy lawyer and calls him her baby reindeer. She emails him hundreds of times a day, follows him home, befriends his landlady under a false name and sexually assaults him in the street. Mocked from the stage, she turns on those around him: she abuses and attacks Teri, throws a drink in Keeley's face and accuses his father of being a paedophile. After she threatens his parents with violence, he reports her; in court she pleads guilty and is jailed for nine months. A last voicemail explains the name: he reminds her of a soft toy she hugged as a child while her parents fought.
Nava Mauas Teri
A trans American therapist Donny meets on a dating site, who wants to be loved openly and bears the brunt of Martha's rage.
Teri’s story
Teri is dating a builder called Tony, the name and job Donny has invented because he is ashamed of wanting her. After a happy evening together she asks him to kiss her in public, and he panics and leaves her on the Underground. When he confesses who he is, she throws him out, then comes to his semi-final to give him another chance. That night Martha screams transphobic abuse at her and attacks her. Teri stays: she takes Donny in when he is hiding from Martha, hears him come out as bisexual and pushes him to go back to the police. The attack stays with her, and their relationship strains. When his attempt to trap Martha ends with the police cautioning him, she leaves him.
Tom Goodman-Hillas Darrien O'Connor
A successful television writer who takes the young Donny under his wing, grooms him and rapes him.
Why it matters
Baby Reindeer is about a man who is stalked and a man who was raped, and they are the same man. It shows how little either is believed here: the police shrug at a woman who sends him tens of thousands of emails, and Donny cannot report Martha properly because he never reported Darrien. Richard Gadd adapted it from his own one-man stage show and plays a version of himself, and he refuses to make Donny a clean victim: he is flattered, cruel, ashamed of desiring a trans woman, drawn back to the man who abused him. It won six Emmys, including best limited series. It also raised a hard question about true stories. The series opens by saying it is one; a Scottish woman who said she had inspired Martha sued Netflix for defamation, and a US judge let the claim go ahead, noting those opening words.