Netflix’s Baby Reindeer creator issues desperate plea to fans

The man behind the Netflix smash hit has been forced to post a statement on social media after fans did something shocking.

The man behind the Netflix hit series Baby Reindeer has been forced to address viewers on social media after some began doing some major detective work.

The series, which was created by and stars Richard Gadd, follows a fictionalised version of Gadd, named Donny, who meets an unhinged woman named Martha while working at a pub in London.

The real-life Martha sent him 41,071 emails, 350 hours’ worth of voicemails, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages, 106 pages of letters, and a variety of weird gifts, including a reindeer toy, sleeping pills, a woolly hat and boxer shorts over four years.

Baby Reindeer tells the story of Donny and Martha. Picture: Netflix

What began as Donny offering her a cup of tea out of sympathy turned into a twisted and complex relationship where Martha slowly but surely brought destruction and chaos to his life.

Throughout the journey, Donny is forced to confront several shocking aspects about his personal life, including a past history with sexual assault and drug use, as well as coming to terms with his own sexuality.

The show features several characters who are all based on real-life people, and despite the subject nature of the show, some viewers have taken it upon themselves to hunt down their identities.

Numerous names have been revealed on social media by amateur detectives claiming to have tracked down the real Martha and Darrien.

It features several characters who are based on real-life people. Picture: Netflix

As the show tops the Netflix charts across the world, Gadd has taken to social media to request that fans stop trying to reveal people’s identities.

“People I love, have worked with, and admire (including Sean Foley) are unfairly getting caught up in speculation,” Gadd posted in an Instagram Story on Monday.

“Please don’t speculate on who any of the real life people could be. That’s not the point of our show.”

The man Gadd mentioned in his post, Foley, a writer, actor and director, has hit back at the numerous TikTok and Twitter posts claiming the character of Darrien O’Connor is based on him.

“Police have been informed and are investigating all defamatory abusive and threatening posts against me,” he tweeted.

In the show, television writer Darrien O’Connor sexually abuses Donny after the pair develop a friendship that spirals into shocking drug abuse and predatory behaviour.

Baby Reindeer began as a one-man show written by and starring Gadd, who performed it at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019. It then became an off – West End play in London and went on to win an Olivier Award for outstanding achievement.

Gadd has spoken sparingly of the show’s real-life counterparts, but has noted that his ordeal with his real-life stalker led to a result where she “could never contact me again”.