Rave review: Baby Reindeer – Netflix

'True story' or 'based on true events'? Here's what I think.

Richard Gadd as Baby Reindeer.

I am not usually drawn to tales of woe, but since starting this Substack I’ve liked to pay close attention to what everyone else is watching, and therefore have been keeping one foot in Netflix’s Top Ten, hoping for another One Day or The Gentlemen.

I think you’ll agree, with Baby Reindeer, the waiting is over.

A bit of background

The plot line of a stalker didn’t fill me with joy and optimism, however, there were five things about this series that set itself apart and reeled me in:

1. It was written by and stars Richard Gadd, who’s own real-life experiences the story was based on.
   It’s important to remember this isn’t a ‘true story’, it is ‘based on true events’, but that’s enough to win a bucket load of authenticity points from me, especially given Richard Gadd’s heavy involvement in the project. 

2. The stalker is female, stalking a male. Nice switcheroo from the norm.

3. The lead character, Donny Dunn, is a stand-up comic and early scenes were filmed during the Edinburgh Festival, any link to which always gets my vote.

4. My step-daughter declared it to be her favourite TV Series at the moment.
   Which in olden times was a positive turn-off for me, as she tended more towards full-on horror, but in more recent years we have bonded over the delights of Motherland, White Gold and The Gentlemen to name but a few, so her opinion now ‘pulls rank’ with me.

5. The name Baby Reindeer. Ok, I’ll admit it, the title does put pictures of the leaping Babycham reindeer in my head… which I will always be fond of, as my Grandmother used to allow us a bottle at Christmas when we were ‘kids'.
   So it’s a ‘yes please, I’ll give it a try’ from me.

Sophistication in a glass, I think you’ll agree.

On with the show

To be honest, I thought I’d watch the first couple of episodes and then abandon it for getting too dark.

Full disclosure, I stopped reading the Harry Potter books at No.4 for this very reason.

I specifically never like to watch anything with a bad vibe directly before bed, so at the end of both of these viewings sessions, I did top up with some old episodes of Seinfeld which is the perfect mind cleanser, to get back into a happy place.

What I wasn’t expecting, was to be so drawn into the story, chewing through the first four episodes in one sitting.

The stalker and victim scenario

These stalker/victim plot lines can be hugely frustrating, normally there are countless opportunities in the early stages for the victim to change the course of events, by either reporting it or changing their habits, which isn’t enjoyable for the viewer.

Richard Gadd was wise enough to realise that: “The feeling you get most of all when you’re getting harassed, is relentless tediousness and frustration,” he said. “I didn’t want the audience to feel that.” 

Hallelujah! Thank you Richard!

I wish other writers would think more about us on occasions like these, it’s not all about you, you know. 😉

The difference with this particular story-telling to the usual ‘Eek, I wish they’d stop stalking me!’ scenario, is that it is made clear that Donny can see events from Martha’s point of view too, it’s not just about him as the victim, it’s about the situation.

This was in no small part due to Jessica Gunning’s brilliant performance as Martha (the stalker). She was able to evoke huge pity and sympathy from us one moment, and full-on rage and frustration the next. 

Just the way she shouts ‘Reindeer!’ in that reprimanding tone is enough to send shivers down my spine.

A brilliant performance! 👏

Richard Gadd and Jessica Gunning as Donny and Martha.

The media shit storm that followed

This story had been many years in the making (more of which later), but the punchline is that the Baby Reindeer Series became a ‘surprise hit’ on Netflix, experiencing ‘unusual audience growth’ by going from 2.6 million in its first week to 22 million just two weeks later!

Even seasoned horror writer Stephen King was moved to tweet:
“BABY REINDEER: Holy shit.”, in response to its meteoric rise.

Attention from the screaming banshees on Twitter switched the focus to identifying the real-life characters, in the hope of a public unveiling! 

The vultures started circled around the digital gallows, ready to snag a victim… followed by certain social death via CAPS and EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!! 

This led the two main actors, Gadd and Gunning to publicly appeal to everyone to stop searching for the real-life people as a lot of innocent, wrong guesses were getting caught in the cross-fire.

Which in turn led to Twitter exploding with…

“Well, what did he think was going to happen???”

Which is when I lost my shit…

Let’s set the scene, and then take an educated guess at ‘what Richard thought was going to happen’ shall we?

Eight years ago, in 2016, Richard debuted his latest show ‘Monkey See Monkey Do’ at the Edinburgh Festival.

He performs the entire show whilst running on a treadmill, his character is a man training for ‘The Man’s Man Final in Mansfield’, and the narrative is him in a dialogue with his inner demons as he runs.

By the end, the character is a broken man, and tells the story of his sexual assault years before.

The ending of this show was then later repackaged as the ‘breakdown on stage scene’ in the Netflix series.

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Richard had such little hope for ‘Monkey See Monkey Do’, not even sure that putting it in the comedy section was the right call, as it wasn’t funny. 

Rehearsals went so badly that by the time opening night came along his best hope was ‘to make it out alive’.

However, the Edinburgh Fringe crowd embraced it and it won the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award for 2016.

During the show’s run, Richard acknowledged that he had suffered a sexual assault in real-life, which is what the show was inspired by.

What didn’t happen was a witch hunt for the guy who had assaulted him all those years ago.

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After Edinburgh, Monkey See Monkey Do transferred to London’s Soho Theatre for an eight week run.

Still no man hunt for his assailant was mounted.

The show then toured key venues in the UK and Europe before a five week run at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Richard ran his heart out all over the world, telling the story of his assault, and nothing happened, as far as the man in question was concerned.

Baby Reindeer

Gadd’s next stage show Baby Reindeer, debuted at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival, and told the story of his experiences being stalked.

Once again, it gained critical acclaim netting the Scotsman Fringe First Award for New Writing and a Stage Award for Acting Excellence.

No outcry from the audiences wanting his stalker’s head on a stick.

Baby Reindeer the stage show, then ran for five weeks at London’s The Bush Theatre, before transferring to the prestigious Ambassador’s Theatre in the West  End. 

Sadly this run was then cancelled, not due to the braying masses at Twitter, but due to the coronavirus closing all theatres.

God farts in Richard’s face once more.

Baby Reindeer and Netflix

In December 2020, Baby Reindeer the Series was announced by Netflix, with Richard set to write and star in it. 

He would draw from both stage shows to weave the plot. 

Telling the stories for the first time on TV, having brought them to the public’s attention eight years prior.

A surprise Netflix hit

Since 2020 Netflix has commissioned 664 TV or movie originals from America and 814 titles Internationally. 

Baby Reindeer was just one of these, and with an 18+ rating and ‘difficult content’ was already on the back foot for the mass market.

In summary

So given all of that, what do you think Richard thought was going to happen?

Eh Twitter?

Did he think that his consistent luck and good fortune would strike again, and against all the odds his Baby Reindeer Series would rise to the top of the Netflix heap through word of mouth, not even via a robust marketing budget?

No. I very much doubt he did.

So let’s cut him and the makers of this excellent Series some slack, as they try and deal with the real-life events as they unfold.

They didn’t anticipate what would happen, and if you watch right to the end nor will you.

Unlike the offscreen ending, the onscreen one is perfect.

Nuff said.

Happy viewing!

K8x

sent from iphon 

Join in the comments below:

What did you think of Baby Reindeer?

Have you ever screamed like a banshee on Twitter?

Do you, like me, still refuse to call it X?

Thank you for being here, please ❤️ (below) if you enjoyed this piece, it really helps others find it.

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