A woman stepping into a bar and being handed a free drink by the bartender might sound like the beginning of a joke — especially since the bartender has dreams of doing stand-up — but that moment kicks off Baby Reindeer, and what follows is deeply disturbing.
Jessica Gunning, who portrays Martha, shares with Tudum that this single act of kindness alters Donny’s life drastically. “From that moment, Martha begins stalking Donny for the next three years,” she explains. “She sends him over 41,000 emails and hundreds of hours of voice recordings.
Baby Reindeer blurs the line between victim and mistake (Photo: Baby Reindeer/Clerkenwell Films and Netflix)But this isn’t your typical stalker situation.” Richard Gadd, the creator, writer, and lead actor of Baby Reindeer, based the show on his own experiences, and he insists that portraying the story this way was essential. “I didn’t want the story to present me as a flawless victim,” Gadd explains.
“There’s a version where I act like I didn’t contribute to anything wrong — that I offered her tea and was just a nice guy. But I made my share of mistakes. What makes a story compelling is when you can’t pick a side. You might pity Martha, but then Donny goes back to Martha again.
Sometimes you even get angry with both of them.” On Skip Intro with Krista Smith, Gadd mentions he’s completely fine with viewers interpreting the show however they want. “People should take whatever meaning they find in it. Baby Reindeer is about human behaviour.
People mess up, not out of malice, but because they’re human. It reflects a slice of life. If it leaves people thinking and taking different things from it, I think that’s powerful. I prefer when things are left open for interpretation.”
Throughout the show, Martha’s fantasies grow stronger due to Donny’s poor decisions, which complicate things further between them. “At times, Donny engages in her fantasies. He flirts a bit, and that excites her,” Gunning adds. “But he truly doesn’t understand just how far gone she is.”
Events in Episode 4 of Baby Reindeer
At the Edinburgh Fringe festival — the same place where Baby Reindeer first premiered as a stage play in 2019 — Donny meets Darrien, a much older, successful TV writer played by Tom Goodman-Hill. Darrien pretends to be a mentor, claiming he can launch Donny’s career.
But instead, he introduces Donny to heavy drugs and alcohol and eventually sexually abuses him while he’s under the influence. Gadd shares that Episode 4 was originally a full hour long, about 15 minutes longer than what was aired, and initially had even darker material that was later edited out.
Writing this episode was emotionally draining for Gadd, who admits he poured himself into it obsessively over just a few days. “I had to write it all in one sitting because I feared that if I paused, I wouldn’t be able to continue,” he says.
The deeply personal nature of the episode even startled members of the production team. “Many people working on the project found it very tough to process,” he recalls. “I had spoken before about being sexually assaulted, but I had never gone into such detail. It was hard for me to even admit some of it.”
Despite the heavy emotions involved, this particular episode reshaped the direction and feel of the entire series. Gadd introduced more voiceover in the script, which then influenced all the other episodes. “Everyone read it and agreed that this approach had to be applied across the series,” he remembers.
“So I went back and rewrote earlier episodes to include this steady stream of voiceover. That voiceover became the core of the show’s identity. It was one of the most fulfilling parts of the writing. Honestly, I think it’s where I truly discovered the heart of the show.”
Even after making a police report against Martha, Donny’s problems don’t ease. When Martha throws a drink at Keeley, Donny finally tells her and her mother, Liz, about the stalking. Liz then asks Donny to leave their home, leading him to move into a noisy apartment in Kilburn with two party-loving flatmates.
Frustrated, he starts spending more time at Teri’s house as they both try to start afresh.
Do Donny and Teri Stay Together?
After a brief silence, Martha resurfaces and reaches out to Donny’s parents, lying that he’s been in an accident. Donny retaliates, but the consequences take a toll on his relationship with Teri, who decides to end things. Nava Mau, who plays Teri, believes there’s a lesson to learn from her dynamic with Donny.
“Our hearts may genuinely want to support someone else,” she says, “but we must not sacrifice our well-being to do it.” She also points out something vital: “Each person has to know their limits.” After losing Teri, Donny crosses paths with Martha again at the bar, and this time, she smashes a glass on his head.
Even though he feels completely overwhelmed, Donny performs at a comedy competition. But instead of his usual routine, he shares a raw and deeply personal confession on stage. He talks about being sexually assaulted, being stalked, and how his relationship with Teri fell apart.
An audience member records the performance and shares it online, where it spreads rapidly and launches Donny’s career. “For the first time, I felt like things were going my way,” Donny narrates at the beginning of Episode 7, which happens to be Gadd’s personal favourite because of how it brings everything together.
The episode begins with Donny thriving — his career is blooming, and his goals feel within reach. “It felt like my life didn’t begin until I hit my thirties. And all it took to get there was to be honest with myself,” Donny says.
But his new beginning is interrupted by a phone call from Martha, who’s seen the viral video and threatens to tell his parents about the sexual assault. So Donny opens up to them — he tells them the full truth about being raped and about being bisexual.
That confession brings him some relief. He refers to the next morning as a “new dawn.”
What Eventually Happens to Martha?
A specific voicemail from Martha, where she threatens Donny’s family, prompts him to report her again. This time, she’s arrested, pleads guilty, and receives a nine-month prison sentence. Donny also secures a restraining order against her for five years.
Even though Martha’s court sentencing marks her final appearance in the show, Gadd remains full of admiration for Jessica Gunning’s performance. Speaking on Skip Intro, he says, “She didn’t just lift the show with every single scene, I can’t find a single flaw in her performance.
There’s no line I would change, no emotion I would ask her to tweak. Donny may appear in every scene, but the entire show hinged on Martha’s portrayal. She had to be scary, sometimes even cruel, but also sweet and relatable. That’s a tough role, and she nailed it.”
The recognition for Gunning’s work also came from the Television Academy, which nominated her for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Baby Reindeer picked up 11 Emmy nominations in total, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.
Mau, Gadd, and Goodman-Hill all received individual acting nominations as well. The show also clinched a Gotham TV Award for Breakthrough Limited Series and a TCA award for Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Mini-Series, and Specials.
How Baby Reindeer Comes to a Close
With Martha out of the way, Donny reconnects with Keeley and returns to live with Liz. There, he stumbles upon an old script containing notes from Darrien — the man who abused him. This discovery pushes Donny to show up at Darrien’s door unexpectedly.
Donny’s kindness sets off a chilling chain reaction (Photo: Baby Reindeer/Clerkenwell Films and Netflix)Darrien tries to compliment Donny by calling his viral performance “brave” and even offers him work. Donny quietly walks away afterward, collapses on the street, and tries to process everything. In an unusual attempt at comfort, he starts listening to Martha’s old voicemails again, which he had sorted into categories like Sad, Happy, Angry, Distressed, and Compliments.
As Episode 7 closes, we hear some of the flattering voice messages while Donny enters a pub. These last scenes are what make this episode stand out for Gadd. “That whole segment is one of my favourite parts.
Returning to Darrien’s place unexpectedly, listening to Martha’s messages again — it’s all filled with emotional complexity. I find the idea compelling: someone feeling so alone and emotionally drained that they turn to old voicemails from their stalker for a sense of connection.”
Through these messages, we finally learn why Martha calls Donny “Baby Reindeer.”
Why the Title Baby Reindeer?
Donny is nicknamed “Baby Reindeer” by Martha, and this is linked to a stuffed toy from her childhood that she was very attached to — one she still owns. This is revealed in the final scene.
While sitting in a bar, Donny opens a voicemail he hadn’t listened to before. In that message, Martha recounts, “When I was small, I had this cuddly toy. I took it everywhere with me. My earliest memory was around Christmas.
There’s this old photo of me wearing a paper hat, sitting beside the reindeer. It was fluffy, with big eyes and lips — the cutest bum you’ve ever seen. I still have it till today. That toy was the only comforting thing I had while growing up. I used to hug it anytime my parents fought — and they fought a lot, you…”
