Who is the real stalker from the Netflix hit Baby Reindeer and where is she now? Fans of ‘mind-blowing’ show desperate to find woman who made Scottish comedian’s life miserable

Fans are excited about the new Netflix show Baby Reindeer, but many are questioning Martha Scott’s real identity.

Comedian Richard Gadd, from Fife, plays Donny in the hit series, which is based on a real-life experience he had with a relentless stalker.

Baby Reindeer takes its title from the nickname Donny was given by his stalker, referred to simply as ‘Martha’.

Gadd, 34, hasn’t revealed Martha’s real name and identity, meaning it’s incredibly difficult to find out where she is now, but he opened up about his ordeal back in 2019.

Martha sent him more than 41,000 emails, 350 hours of voicemail, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages and 106 pages of letters.

Comedian Richard Gadd, from Fife, plays Donny in the hit series, which is based on a real-life experience he had with a relentless stalker

She also gave him things like sleeping pills, a woolen hat, a brand new pair of boxer shorts and a stuffed reindeer toy.

Gadd only met her stalker after he offered ‘a crying stranger a cup of tea’ when she entered the bar where he worked.

But Martha’s obsession grew. She began to invade his life by following him around, showing up at his concerts and even waiting outside his home.

But despite Martha having affected his life for years, he said he felt sorry for her, adding that she is a victim of a ‘flawed system’.

He told Independent at the time: ‘I can’t stress enough how much of a victim she is in all of this.

“Persecution and harassment is a form of mental illness. It would have been wrong to paint her as a monster, because she is bad and the system has failed her.’

He told The Guardian that because she didn’t get the help she needed, ‘her instability would just come over the phone every day.’

Netflix said that every email shown in the series was a real message sent from the woman to Gadd, giving fans a real insight into Martha’s character.

He said the woman, whose real identity remains unknown, ran a ‘freight train’ through her ability to have a normal life and relationship.

Martha (above played by Jessica Gunning) sent him more than 41,000 emails, 350 hours of voicemail, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages and 106 pages of letters

Gadd only met her stalker after he offered ‘a crying stranger a cup of tea’ when she entered the bar where he worked. Above: Jessica Gunning as Martha

Gadd’s real stalker gave him a stuffed reindeer toy and the nickname ‘Baby Reindeer’

The Netflix series sees Martha, played by Jessica Gunning on the show, given a prison sentence for her crimes, but Gadd has not revealed the fate of his own stalker, other than to say that the problem is solved and he never wanted to “throw a person who was mentally ill at that level, in prison.’

When asked if the release of the show could increase her compulsive behaviour, Gadd told the magazine: ‘I have to admit it’s not. Perhaps seeing it in the press has made her think twice about her behaviour.’

He also told GQ: ‘We’ve done so much to hide her to the point that I don’t think she would recognize herself.’

The comedian added that the story is based on an ’emotional truth’ rather than a ‘factual profile of someone’.

Gadd said he couldn’t predict how his stalker would react to things, calling her an ‘idiosyncratic person’.

He says it was ‘years’ before the police finally took his complaints seriously – and six years before they finally intervened – prolonging the pain for everyone involved, including his relatives.

The police told him at the time that unless his stalker became physically violent, there was little they could do to solve the problem.

He has said he still finds it difficult to trust people and has had ‘all the therapy going on’.

He added that the years of being stalked have left him with something “like PTSD”. For the Netflix role, he lost weight to match his 10-and-a-half “neurotic” self at the height of his own stalking nightmare.

The comedian added that the story is based on an ’emotional truth’ rather than a ‘factual profile of someone’

He has said he still finds it difficult to trust people and has had ‘all the therapy going on’. Top: In the show

Gadd says he is currently single and ‘is more wary’ of people because of the campaign of terror Martha inflicted, saying: ‘It takes me a long time to trust them. I used to get into situations with such abandon and I got burned.’

But acting out a version of what happened to him has allowed him to have ‘ownership’ of the trauma. Gadd received a Fringe Award for his show, also called Baby Reindeer, in 2019.

Talking to Telegraph in 2019 about the one-man show he wrote after the ordeal, which is currently running at London’s Bush Theatre, he said: ‘It was unbelievably debilitating.

‘I listened to her voicemails and just felt my eyes welling up. They were tears of frustration. Proper brain-heavy stress.’