‘Baby Reindeer’ Star and Emmy Winner Richard Gadd Signs Multi-Year, First-Look Deal With Netflix

Richard Gadd has signed a multi-year, first-look deal for scripted series with Netflix, the streamer’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed on Tuesday.

At The Royal Television Society’s London Convention, Sarandos, taking part in a panel to kick off the day, said: “I can give you a bit of news this morning, we have finished our first-look deal with Richard Gadd to do his first work at Netflix. I think he’s a brilliant storyteller… I’m very proud of Richard of the story he told and the way he told it, and it is his true story.”

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Baby Reindeer debuted in April and was an instant phenomenon, earning critical acclaim and social media buzz before landing 11 Emmy nominations. Gadd took home two Emmys Sunday night for his acting and writing in the series.

Audiences were gripped by the story of Donny, an amateur comedian played by Gadd in the Netflix hit, who, over the course of several years, is harassed, stalked and sent over 41,000 emails, 744 tweets, 100 pages of letters and 350 hours of voicemails by a woman (played by Jessica Gunning) he serves at a London pub. Martha, who had already served a four-and-a-half-year jail term for a previous stalking conviction in Baby Reindeer, is eventually jailed for nine months after threatening and sexually harassing Gadd.

The actor plays himself in the show, based on his hit play of the same name that debuted on London’s West End. “This is a true story,” says a title card in the very first episode. Fiona Harvey, who was identified as the “real-life” inspiration behind Gunning’s character in the series, filed a $170 million lawsuit against Netflix for defamation and privacy violations.

The series sat in the top spot worldwide for a month before it was dethroned and accrued 56.5 million views within 26 days of its April 11 release. “It’s been an enormous hit around the world,” Sarandos said at the time.

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