Inside the gruesome true story behind Netflix's Baby Reindeer: How a comedian's life of laughter was turned upside down after buying a crying stranger a cup of tea - prompting six years of harrowing 'trauma' which left victim in a state of fear like 'PTSD'

Netflix's latest thriller, Baby Reindeer, tells the story of a Scottish stand-up comic who is haunted by a stalker for months on end.

The mini-series is, shockingly, based on the true story of 34-year-old Fife comedian Richard Gadd - who is presented in the show as Donny Dunn. 

Baby Reindeer is both the name of his tour about being stalked and the nickname given to him by his stalker, known as Martha (Jessica Gunning).

It has been hailed as 'mind-blowing' and 'one of the most powerful shows I've ever watched' by those who have binged all seven episodes within the first days of its release on the streaming platform.

Gadd first met his stalker after he offered 'a crying stranger a cup of tea' when she came into the bar where he worked.  

A picture from Baby Reindeer, Netflix's new psychological thriller which follows struggling comedian Donny Dunn, played by the show's writer Richard Gadd

In real-life, Gadd, left, 34, was stalked for six years by a female stalker, who drove a 'freight train' through his life, he says. Right: His award-winning stand-up show, based on some of his own experiences of stalking, is now a Netflix series (poster pictured)

 The Netflix series sees Martha given a prison sentence for her offences but Gadd hasn't divulged the fate of his real-life stalker

The simple gesture sparked a stalking episode that saw him regularly followed at home and work, and tracked on Facebook using three fake accounts. 

He told The Times: 'At first everyone at the pub thought it was funny that I had an admirer. Then she started to invade my life, following me, turning up at my gigs, waiting outside my house, sending thousands of voicemails and emails.' 

It developed to terrifying lengths as the crazed fan got closer to her obsession - including her turning up at his gigs, his workplace and bombarding him with messages. 

The actor and comedian was subjected to a campaign of obsession by the woman, known as Martha, that manifested in 41,071 emails, 744 tweets, 106 pages of letters and a staggering 350 hours of voicemail.

He says it was 'years' before the police eventually took his complaints seriously - and six years before they finally intervened - something which prolonged the agony 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 resolve the issue. 

He has said he still finds it hard to trust people and has had 'every therapy going'.  

Gadd's stalker sent him 41,071 emails, 744 tweets, 106 pages of letters and a staggering 350 hours of voicemail over a six year period

In Baby Reindeer, Martha follows her obsession to his gigs, workplace and sends thousands of messages

The seven-part series sees Martha largely using technology to stalk and constrain her victim 

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 stone 'neurotic' self at the height of his own stalking nightmare. 

Gadd says he's currently single and 'is more cautious' of people because of the campaign of terror that Martha inflicted, saying:  'It takes me a long time to trust them. Before, I entered situations with such abandonment and I got burnt.' 

However, performing a version of what happened to him has enabled him to have 'ownership' of the trauma. Gadd earned a Fringe award for his show, also called Baby Reindeer, in 2019.  

Speaking to the Telegraph in 2019 about the one-man show that he wrote after the ordeal, which is currently on at London's Bush theatre, he said: 'It was debilitating beyond belief. 

'I'd listen to her voicemails and just feel my eyes welling up. They were tears of frustration. Proper brain-heavy stress.' 

The actor and comedian, pictured in 2019, says the police refused to take his claims that he was being stalked despite 'Martha' frequently appearing at his home

Gadd says that the woman drove a 'freight train' through his ability to have a normal life and relationships.

He also added that he portrays her in the show as not evil but severely affected by mental health problems. 

The Netflix series sees Martha given a prison sentence for her offences but Gadd hasn't divulged the fate of his own stalker, except to say the issue has been resolved and he never wanted to 'throw someone who was that level of mentally unwell in prison.' 

Baby Reindeer is out now on Netflix