The True Story BehindBaby Reindeer: Where Is Martha Now?

Mar. 15, 2025

Ed Miller/Netflix

“It’s very emotionally true, obviously: I was severely stalked and severely abused,” he said. “But we wanted it to exist in the sphere of art, as well as protect the people it’s based on.”

Though Gadd tried to protect the identity of his stalker,a Scottish lawyer named Fiona Harveyspoke out after the series became an international hit and claimed to be the woman who inspired Martha.

During an interview withPiers Morgan, she announced her intentions to sue Gadd and Netflix, claiming that the show is “complete nonsense.” She followed through in June 2024 andsued Netflix for $170 million.

“A lot of people ask me why a show this dark has gone on to be the success that [it has]. I think people have been crying out for something that kind of spoke to the painful inconsistencies of being human,” Gadd said while accepting the Golden Globe for best television limited series, anthology series or motion picture made for television.

“It’s clearly struck a chord,” he toldThe Guardian. “I really did believe in it, but it’s taken off so quickly that I do feel a bit windswept.”

Now, he’s working on writing a six-part drama for the BBC calledLions.

“At first everyone at the pub thought it was funny that I had an admirer,” Gadd toldThe Timesin April 2024. “Then she started to invade my life, following me, turning up at my gigs, waiting outside my house, sending thousands of voicemails and emails.”

Though he went to the police about the situation, the authorities weren’t much help. Gadd said they found it unfathomable that a man could be getting stalked when the situation is stereotypically the other way around.

“When a man gets stalked it can be portrayed in films and television as a sexy thing,” he toldThe Times. “Like a femme fatale who gradually becomes more sinister. It doesn’t carry as much threat of physical violence, is less common and can be trivialized.”

He continued, “I was physically scared because I didn’t know how far she could take it, she could have a knife, but I did think how terrifying it would be if she was a tall scary man.”

However, taking the story to the stage — and eventually to the small screen — was healing for Gadd.

Who is the real Martha?

Gadd has never publicly stated Martha’s real name or identity in an effort to protect her. Though she harassed him for over four years, Gadd said he still has a certain level of sympathy for her as a mentally ill person.

He toldGQin April 2024 that in order to cover her identity, he changed certain aspects of her character so no one could identify who she was.

Despite his attempts to hide his stalker’s identity, internet sleuths said that they thought Fiona Harvey was the real-life Martha and sent her “death threats,” according to theDaily Mail.

Harvey also confirmed to the outlet that multiple details of her and Martha’s identity are the same: they’re both Scottish, studied law, are 20 years older than Gadd and used sensual language in their writing.

In the show, Martha is sentenced to nine months in prison and a five-year restraining order after she leaves a threatening voicemail on Donny’s phone that makes him fear for his family.

He attends her hearing where Martha pleads guilty to all counts she was charged with and begins to cry. When he leaves, Donny feels sorry for her, he says in his narration.

The court hearing is the last time he saw her in the show.

What happened to Martha in real life?

In real life, Gadd hasn’t made it clear whether the real Martha is serving time, though he says the situation has been handled.

“It is resolved,” he toldThe Times. “I had mixed feelings about it — I didn’t want to throw someone who was that level of mentally unwell in prison.”

Overall, Gadd found his experience with the police to be unhelpful, and he was left feeling “let down,” he toldThe Independentin April 2024.

“Going through the police process on [the stalking case], I really did feel quite confronted with just how kind of how much lack of resources there seemed to be – how the police have been gutted,” he told the outlet, adding that he was also alarmed at the lack of help that was provided to his stalker.

Though the stalking has come to an end, Gadd said the “emotional ramifications” continue to “live on” in him.

According to theDaily Mail, Harvey currently lives alone in a council flat in London on a food budget of 30 pounds a week.

In May 2024, Harvey appeared onPiers Morgan Uncensored, where she denied stalking Gadd and called him “psychotic.” She added: “If somebody was sending somebody 41,000 emails or something, they’d be doing how many a day? Lots. None of that’s true. I don’t think I sent him anything … No, I think there may have been a couple of emails exchanged, but that was it. Just jokey banter emails.”

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.

source: people.com