Army & Navy pub – Stoke Newington Those gigs were actually filmed at a pub in London: Stokey's Army & Navy. As in the show, where pissed-off regulars have their football viewing interrupted by Donny's routine, the North London boozer is a big sports pub, also known for its live music.
Baby Reindeer was filmed in and takes place in London and Edinburgh. Some of the locations you might spot in the series include Edinburgh's The Hoppy, Grassmarket, and The Royal Mile — all with Edinburgh Waverley as the closest train station. In London, you might recognize: Brockwell Park | Closest station: Herne Hill.
"But I feel Martha is kind of the role of a lifetime. I felt really moved by her, actually." Gunning was aged with make-up to play the role, and Martha's Scottish accent is replaced in real life by her native West Yorkshire one.
This story is not just the work of Richard Gadd, but it is his life story. Baby Reindeer is not just a true story, but Richard's true story of his own victimization, survival of stalking, and other forms of abuse.
More Stories by Lily. The real-life inspiration behind Baby Reindeer's Martha was never convicted of stalking Richard Gadd as depicted in the show, but subject to a court order, a letter from Netflix to the U.K. government has confirmed.
Following the success of Baby Reindeer, Gadd is now writing a drama for the BBC titled Half Man, also starring Jamie Bell. Filming began in Glasgow in February 2025.
Among them is Nava Mau, who plays Donny Dunn's (Gadd) love interest, Teri. Like Jessica Gunning's Martha, Teri is based on a real person, with Gadd confirming that she was "the voice of reason in my life at that point", although he never "listened to her as much as [he] should have".
Fiona Harvey, a lawyer from Scotland, slapped the world's biggest streamer with a $170M defamation lawsuit last year after Baby Reindeer became a global sensation and she was identified as the show's alleged stalker, played by Jessica Gunning.
How much did Richard Gadd make from Baby Reindeer?
His profits in 2023 quadrupled from the previous year after the show was picked up by Netflix. Baby Reindeer was snapped up by the streaming site in 2023, affording Richard a huge increase in his income and earning him millionaire status. His company is now £836,233 in profit, compared to £178,344 in 2022.
Reflecting the real-life circumstances of the events in the show, the email correspondences we see on screen from Martha are taken verbatim from Gadd's actual stalker. In total, the woman sent Gadd a total of 41,041 emails, over 350 hours of voicemail messages, 106 pages of letters and many social media messages.
“Abandonment issues on steroids” is often a sign of borderline personality disorder, and Martha indeed behaved like someone with borderline personality disorder: the intense rage, abandonment terror, threats of self-harm, and rapidly shifting mood.
“Baby Reindeer” is Martha's nickname for Donny because he reminds her of a stuffed animal she cherished as child and still has to this day. This is all revealed in the show's final scene.
According to most, the pub Richard worked in at the time of the stalking (which is stated to be around 10 years ago) was none other than the iconic Hawley Arms in Camden.
Harvey worked for the Financial Times for more than ten years, starting out as an IT and telecoms reporter in 2000. She has also written as a freelancer for Scientific American, the New Scientist, and the Encyclopaedia Brittanica.
The Hawley Arms features prominently in the Netflix miniseries Baby Reindeer, where it is fictionalised as 'The Heart'. The pub serves as a crucial setting for a key scene in which the main character encounters the antagonist (a notorious stalker) for the first time.
While the pair hit it off, Teri is eventually also harassed by Martha, and Martha's stalking of Donny creates a wedge between the couple. Donny later sees Teri in the street with another man, marking the end of their relationship, and offering him closure.
Who was Llewellyn Harrison? Llewellyn Harrison is credited among the camera crew who worked on Baby Reindeer as a key grip, a senior role on a film set that is responsible for overseeing equipment, coordinating its transportation, positioning of cameras and everything in between.
Speaking to the Independent, Richard confirmed that the storyline of his relationship with Teri in Baby Reindeer did draw on his own real experience of dating a trans woman.
It turns out Baby Reindeer creator and star Richard Gadd is actually a millionaire. He's made absolutely loads of money through his comedy career, and is set to bring in even more cash following the huge success of his Netflix show.
Even now, Scottish writer, actor, and comedian Richard Gadd has trouble comprehending the degree to which Baby Reindeer became an overnight worldwide obsession.
In recent comments to IndieWire at the 76th Primetime Emmys, Gadd directly shot down the chances of Baby Reindeer season 2. The star and creator shared that he's really proud of the way the show ended. He added that he fought hard for that ending and detailed why it would be best to leave the story as it is.
To have to re-enact these events with other actors – Martha is played by Jessica Gunning, in an absolutely stunning performance, and Darrien, the rapist, is played by Tom Goodman-Hill – has been “difficult”, Gadd says carefully. “It's had triggering elements.
