Teri in Baby Reindeer, played by Nava Mau, is based on a real person Richard Gadd dated, a trans woman who served as a crucial "voice of reason" in his life, though Gadd has kept her specific identity private to protect her, with Mau emphasizing her responsibility in portraying the character authentically. Mau, an actress and trans advocate, felt a significant duty to represent trans women accurately in relationships, bringing her own perspective to the role.
Mau portrayed Teri, a trans woman Richard Gadd's Donny gets romantically involved with. The relationship eventually sours, and they both end up going their separate ways. Viewers sympathized with Teri throughout the series and some were disappointed she didn't get her happy ending with Donny.
After Martha's heckling ruins Donny's set, he and Teri run off to grab a drink. Then Martha shows up. The confrontation escalates, and Martha assaults Teri, ripping out a clump of her hair. Donny finally goes to the police.
"Teri got her happy ending, you know? Teri found a new man, she didn't lose her friends, she didn't lose her job, she didn't lose her smile. She's good. And I think that is remarkable, because so often we've seen stories of trans people that end with them broken."
From the beginning, Nava Mau knew the role of Teri in “Baby Reindeer” had the potential to be a life-changing opportunity. The character, a love interest of Richard Gadd's struggling protagonist, Donny Dunn, was nuanced and complex, an essential part of a story that's ultimately about the power of telling the truth.
“Richard Gadd is PSYCHOTIC” Baby Reindeer’s ‘Real’ Martha Fiona Harvey
Did Richard Gadd really date Teri?
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.
One of the relationships that takes center stage is with his girlfriend Teri – who is trans – and played by Nava Mau. In Baby Reindeer, Mau was tasked with tapping into emotions that she had never explored on-screen.
Donny went to Teri's apartment to apologise and tell Teri the truth about his identity. Teri became upset, believing Donny was using her for comedic material and kicked him out.
She consistently comes onto Nick, and by the end of the second act, she convinces him to have sex with her (to make matters worse, in her and George's marital bed). This seduction, conducted in front of George, angers George as Martha intended (though he doesn't let her see his rage).
Donny is granted a five-year restraining order—and he allegedly never sees her again. In the final scene, Donny listens to Martha's voicemails and learns why she called him Baby Reindeer. He reminded her of a stuffed reindeer that she had during her childhood.
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. As many know, anyone can be the victim of violence.
Despite seeking out a trans partner, Donny is ashamed of his feelings and has told Teri he is a builder named Tony. Martha's stalking intensifies. She leaves comments on every photo on Donny's Facebook profile and jealously sends harassing messages to his ex-girlfriend Keeley, whose mother, Liz, is Donny's landlady.
One of the prominent mental health concepts in "Baby Reindeer" is anxiety, particularly manifested through hypervigilance. Characters display heightened alertness and constant scanning of their environment, a common symptom of anxiety disorders.
The famous actress Martha Scott, known for Our Town, passed away on May 28, 2003, in Los Angeles at age 90 from natural causes, while a more contemporary baker named Martha Collison (née Scott) is alive and well, married, and a mother. If you're thinking of the classic actress, she died peacefully, interred near her husband, Powell Lindsay.
Nava Mau (born May 14, 1992) is an American actress and filmmaker, known for appearing in the Netflix British dark drama series Baby Reindeer (2024), and the HBO Max comedy Generation (2021). Her performance in the former earned her a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award.
In March 2006, she alleged that she was sexually abused from the age of five by Richard Hayes Stone, an uncle by marriage who was later divorced by Hatcher's aunt. She said her parents were unaware of the abuse.
Gadd described meeting Harvey while he was working at the Hawley Arms pub in London in 2014 and initially thought she was “harmless”. But, he alleged, she “often attempted to touch me in inappropriate (and sometimes sexual) ways” and ignored his requests for her to stop.
