‘Baby Reindeer’s Richard Gadd Inks First-Look Deal With Netflix

Nellie Andreeva
·3 min read

EXCLUSIVE: Richard Gadd, who won three Emmys on Sunday for his hugely popular Netflix limited series Baby Reindeer, has signed a multi-year first-look deal with the global streamer for scripted series. Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos is expected to announce the pact today at The Royal Television Society London Convention.

While it’s been unveiled on the heels of Baby Reindeer’s standout performance at the Emmys where it dominated the longform field with six wins, including Outstanding Limited Series, I hear the two sides agreed to the deal last month, after the show had landed 11 Emmy nominations.

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Netflix is a logical partner for Gadd following their collaboration on Baby Reindeer which became a global phenomenon, spending 8 weeks in Netflix’s Top 10 for English-language TV programs and amassing 88.4M views in its first 91 days of release to briefly make Netflix’s Top 10 most popular series list.

Still, I hear there was also interest from HBO which has Gadd’s followup series to Baby Reindeer, the BBC drama Lions. Picked up by the U.S. premium network in June when Gadd was already a household name due to Baby Reindeer‘s enormous popularity, Lions was announced by the BBC in February, ahead of the Netflix series’ April debut.

Gadd is the creator, writer, executive producer and star of Baby Reindeer which he based on his award-winning one-man play. It follows struggling comedian Donny Dunn’s (Gadd) warped relationship with his female stalker Martha (Jessica Gunning) and the impact it has on him as he is ultimately forced to face a deeply buried trauma. Nava Mau and Tom Goodman-Hill co-star.

The woman Martha was based on in June filed a $170M defamation lawsuit against Netflix, which recently received a 2025 trial date.

“I’m beyond thrilled to be continuing my creative journey with Netflix,” Gadd said. “They took a chance on me when I wasn’t proven in the television space for that I will always be grateful. I look forward to the years ahead with Netflix ideas with Ted, Bela [Bajaria], Anne [Mensah], Peter [Friedlander] and all the amazing staff who work at the company.”

In addition to the Limited or Anthology Series win, in which Gadd shared as an executive producer, Baby Reindeer’s six Emmys include Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, both for Gadd, giving him the rare distinction of winning as an actor, writer and producer in the same year. The show also won Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Gunning, Casting for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and Picture Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

Produced by Clerkenwell Films, Baby Reindeer was executive produced by Gadd, Petra Fried, Ed Macdonald, Matt Jarvis, Wim De Greef. Weronika Tofilska and Josephine Bornebusch directed. Matthew Mulot was a producer.

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