Inside the riotous history of the notorious Hawley Arms - which Baby Reindeer fans are convinced is the pub at the centre of Richard Gadd's stalking drama

Online sleuths are convinced that they found the real pub at the centre of hit Netflix show Baby Reindeer - and it has a riotous history filled with famous patrons including Amy Winehouse, Noel Fielding, Liam Gallagher and Kate Moss.

Keen social media detectives think that the notorious Hawley Arms in north London - which was at the centre of a celebrity campaign after it got burned down in a fire - is the real life haunt where Richard Gadd may have worked and met his stalker.

Speculation also saw people discovering that the show writer and the bar follow each other on Instagram.

Both the Hawley and 'The Heart' - the name of the pub in the series where the comedian plays himself under the character Donny Dunn, and Jessica Gunning portrays Martha Scott, a fictional name for the woman who becomes obsessed with him - are located in Camden.

The first episode shows Donny and Martha's first meeting happening at The Heart, when he offers her a cup of tea on the house because she appears upset.

Online sleuths are convinced that they found the real pub at the centre of hit Netflix show Baby Reindeer - and it has a riotous history filled with famous patrons including Amy Winehouse , Noel Fielding , Liam Gallagher and Kate Moss. Amy and Blake pictured at the pub in 2007

As the show progresses, the pub becomes an unsafe place for Donny, who has to deal with co-workers that don't take his concerns about Martha seriously and at one point is even forced to stave off an attack from her.

While it's not confirmed if Richard has ever worked there, the real life Hawley has had its own eclectic history.

Amy Winehouse was known to be  a frequent visitor and fan of the pub - well into her fame - and even begged then manager Craig Seymour to let her serve customers.

'She used to come in and say: "Craig, babydoll, can I serve some drinks?",' he told Vice in 2017.

'I've seen grown men break down in tears after being served by Amy.' 

The Hawley was also popular with up and coming indie musicians because it was - and still is - only minutes away from MTV's studio on Hawley Crescent. 

And it wasn't just the Britpop scene - with everyone from Noel Fielding, Liam Gallagher, the Arctic Monkeys and Kate Moss reportedly making an appearance.

In 2007, Hollywood A-lister Kirsten Dunst was snapped at the pub with her then-boyfriend Johnny Borrell, frontman of the band Razorlight, after attending a Spider Man premiere.

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Keen social media detectives think that the notorious Hawley Arms in north London - which was at the centre of a celebrity campaign after it got burned down in a fire - is the real life haunt where Richard Gadd may have worked and met his stalker. Left, Richard in the show. Right, the Hawley Arms

Tragedy struck the bar in 2008, when a fire blazed through Camden Market, leaving the Hawley - and many neighbouring establishments - severely damaged

It's been known to be visited by musicians like Wolf Alice, as reported by The Guardian in an interview, and newer faces like YUNGBLUD (right), who has featured on the pub's Instagram 

Tragedy struck the bar in 2008, when a fire blazed through Camden Market, leaving the Hawley - and many neighbouring establishments - severely damaged. 

Just one day later, Amy attended the GRAMMYs, where she won in five of the six categories in which she was nominated, picking up record of the year, best new artist, best song of the year, best pop vocal album for Back to Black and best female pop vocal.

As she collected record of the year for Rehab, the singer said: 'This is to my mum and dad - for my Blake incarcerated. And to London, this is for London because Camden Town is burning down.'

A number of musicians rallied behind the Hawley when it struggled to make a comeback after the fire.

The owners at the time, Ruth Mottram and Doug Charles-Ridler, took to Glastonbury and the Hop Farm Festival to rally for help.

Amy Winehouse was known to be a frequent visitor and fan of the pub - well into her fame - and even begged then manager Craig Seymour to let her serve customers. Pictured leaving the Hawley after a night out

Just one day after the fire in 2008, Amy attended the GRAMMYs, and mentioned the blaze in an award acceptance speech

More recent appearances have also seen Jess Glynne (pictured at the pub in October) performing at the venue

As reported by the Camden New Journal, Noel and the Mighty Boosh cast donned 'Save the Hawley' shirts, as did Katie Melua and Drew McConnell from Babyshambles.

Months later, a flurry of stars put on a fundraising gig at Dingwalls - which was opposite the Hawley.

Noel presented, with performances from Lois Winstone, Razorlight and Captain Black among others.

Amy made an appearance, but left shortly after following a 'commotion' with the DJ, according to the BBC.

In 2019, Greene King decided to sell the pub due to change in legislation, and Mottram and Charles-Ridler publicly spoke about wanting to own it.

'Greene King told us they were selling the pub and we said we would like the chance to buy. We feared if someone else came in, they would put our rent up and change the place,' Charles-Ridler told the Camden New Journal.

'We have had tremendous help from everyone involved in the Hawley story, and we are getting help from people who come in and use the pub,' Mottram added. 'And by doing that, they get something back in return.'

And it wasn't just the Britpop scene - with everyone from Noel Fielding (pictured - not at the Hawley - in 2005), Liam Gallagher, the Arctic Monkeys and Kate Moss reportedly making an appearance

MailOnline has reached out to the Hawley Arms for comment about fans' speculation that it's the real venue Richard Gadd worked at ahead of creating Baby Reindeer. Pictured: Liam Gallagher and Kate Moss (not at the hub) who were said to be frequent visitors

Despite the decades gone by, the Hawley still appears to be the cool indie haunt by all accounts.

It's been known to be visited by musicians like Wolf Alice, as reported by The Guardian in an interview, and newer faces like YUNGBLUD, who has featured on the pub's Instagram.

More recent appearances have also seen Jess Glynne performing at the venue.

MailOnline has reached out to the Hawley Arms for comment about fans' speculation that it's the real venue Richard Gadd worked at ahead of creating Baby Reindeer.

The 34-year-old comedian has not revealed the name and identity of the real life woman who stalked him. 

Baby Reindeer takes its title from the nickname given to Donny by his stalker, whose name in the show is Martha Scott.

The real life 'Martha' sent him more than 41,000 emails, 350 hours of voicemail, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages and 106 pages of letters.

Baby Reindeer takes its title from the nickname given to Donny by his stalker, whose name in the show is Martha Scott

She also gave him items such as sleeping pills, a woolly hat, a pair of brand new boxer shorts and a stuffed reindeer toy.

Richard first met her after he offered 'a crying stranger a cup of tea' when she came into the bar where he worked. But her obsession grew. She started invading his life by following him around, turning up at his gigs and even waited outside his home. 

Despite the stalker affecting his life for years, Richard has admitted that he feels sorry for her, adding that she is a victim of a 'failed system'. 

He told the Independent at the time: 'I can't emphasise enough how much of a victim she is in all this.

'Stalking and harassment is a form of mental illness. It would have been wrong to paint her as a monster, because she's unwell, and the system's failed her.'

The Netflix series sees Martha be given a prison sentence for her offences but Richard 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'.

When asked whether the release of the show might increase her obsessive behaviours, Richard told the outlet: 'I have to admit that it hasn't. Maybe seeing this in the press has made her think twice about her behaviour.'

He also told GQ: 'We’ve gone to such great lengths to disguise her to the point that I don’t think she would recognise herself.'

The comedian added that the story is based on an 'emotional truth' rather than a 'fact-by-fact profile of someone'.

Richard also said he couldn't predict how his stalker would react to things, calling her an 'idiosyncratic person'.

He said 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. 

Both the Hawley and 'The Heart' - the name of the pub in the series where the comedian plays himself under the character Donny Dunn, and Jessica Gunning portrays Martha Scott, a fictional name for the woman who becomes obsessed with him - are located in Camden

As the show progresses, the pub becomes an unsafe place for Donny, who has to deal with co-workers that don't take his concerns about Martha seriously and at one point is even forced to stave off an attack from her

The police told him at the time that unless his stalker became physically violent, there was little they could do to resolve the issue. 

Speaking to The Times, he has said he still finds it hard to trust people and has had 'every therapy going'. 

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. 

Richard 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. Richard  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.' 

Some fans were also sent into a frenzy as they tried to track down Richard's real-life stalker, despite him repeatedly stressing that his stalker was also a victim and someone in serious need of mental health support, which they never received.

He begged fans to stop searching for the person his on-screen stalker is based on, saying it was hurting those close to him. 

The first episode shows Donny and Martha's first meeting happening at The Heart, when he offers her a cup of tea on the house because she appears upset

He wrote on his Instagram page about how 'people I love, have worked with, and admire' were being targeted unfairly.

He added: 'Please don't speculate on who any of the real life people could be. That's not the point of the show.'

Richard has previously made it clear that he's changed names and specific details of the story to protect the identities of those involved.

Meanwhile Jessica Gunning, who plays Martha in the show, said the searching act was a 'real shame' and was a sign that viewers had missed the point. 

In conversation with Glamour, the actress commented: 'I didn't know that was happening. I would urge people not to be doing that. I think if that is happening, I think it's a real, real shame, because it shows that they haven't watched the show properly.'

The star, who has also featured in The Outlaws and Back alongside Davis Mitchell and Robert Webb, added that Richard went through a great effort to protect her character's identity.

She continued: 'I think they should try and watch the show again and really see what the point of it was – it definitely wasn't that.'