Who is the real-life Martha in ‘Baby Reindeer’?

9 May, 2024

baby reindeer

Baby Reindeer is one of the year’s most talked-about shows, but who is the real-life woman that inspired the character of Martha?

The hit Netflix series was created by Richard Gadd, and claims to tell the true story of his experience of being obsessively stalked by a woman called Martha after he befriends her in the pub he works in.

In the show, Martha has already served a four-and-a-half year sentence for a previous stalking conviction, and in the final episode she is given a further nine months in prison.

After the show’s release, some viewers attempted to uncover the real identities of characters in the show, including Martha. Gadd subsequently urged viewers to refrain from speculating, saying: “That’s not the point of our show.”

Who is the real-life Martha in Baby Reindeer?

The woman chose to publicly reveal her identity this week in an interview with the Daily Record, after a flurry of speculation since the release of the show.

She is Fiona Harvey, a 58-year-old Scottish lawyer, who in the interview described the show as “a load of rubbish”.

Speaking about the decision to come forward, she said she did so “because people have to know what is going on.”

She went on to tell the newspaper that she has not been to prison, adding: “I don’t know where the four-and-a-half years and nine months comes in.”

Threatening legal action against Gadd and Netflix, she said: “Gadd needs to prove I went to jail which just didn’t happen. I’ve never been sent to jail. That is blatantly obvious.

“Police at your door would be the first thing, then you’d be charged, then you would have a trial. Then you’d be fined or something or go to prison.

“This is all made up and hyperbole. There are no restraining orders, injunctions or interdicts anywhere. There’s just no way. I’ve not had the police at my door about any of these things.

“It’s a load of rubbish. I don’t have any money but I’m a perfectly capable lawyer so I will represent myself.”

Harvey is also due to appear on Piers Morgan Uncensored on May 9, in an attempt to “set the record straight”.

“I’m the victim here, not Richard Gadd,” Harvey also told the Daily Record. “I’ve had death threats as a result of his show despite the fact that a lot of the things he claimed are just not true.”

She went on to say that she had been getting by on “two hours sleep” per night since the show had been released, which she said she had not watched.

“I was in Richard Gadd’s company on occasions but I didn’t stalk him like he claims. His story is that this is a gross intrusion into my privacy. I haven’t seen him for 12 years.

“I read that he had written that show for the festival four or five years ago and I thought, ‘Oh my God’. This weekend I Googled and stories about Richard Gadd and Baby Reindeer were all over the place in flashing lights.”

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