LONDON, Sept 17 (Askume) – Netflix (NFLX.O) said on Tuesday that “Baby Reindeer” contains explicit drama, in response to online speculation about the real-life people behind its popular characters, raising concerns about its compliance standards.
The show opened with “It’s a True Story,” a heartbreaking tale of a patron stalking a bartender, written by and starring comedian Richard Gadd.
In June, a Scottish woman sued Netflix for at least $170 million, saying she was defamed for her role as a stalker in the global hit series, which won an Emmy for best limited series .
Netflix co-executive Ted Sarandos said Tuesday that the show is Gad’s true story, though elements are obviously dramatized.
“I’m very proud of Richard, proud of the story he tells and the way he tells it, which is his true story,” he said at the Royal Television Society London conference.
“Baby Reindeer” differs from other similar shows in that it does not claim to be “based on” a true story, but rather does depict what actually happened, which raises questions about the ethics of portraying real people.
Sarandos said: “This is not a documentary, some of the elements of the story are dramatised and we’ve been watching actors perform on television and we think it’s obvious there’s dramatisation involved.”
Fiona Harvey has publicly claimed to be the inspiration for the show’s “Martha”, played by actress Jessica Gunning, who looks a lot like Harvey, who liked the character of the London solicitor.
Harvey said in a complaint filed in Los Angeles that Netflix and Gad went too far in suggesting on the show that she was a twice-convicted stalker who was sentenced to five years in prison.
Harvey has denied stalking Gad (who plays a fictionalized version of himself, Donnie Dunn, on the show) or ever being convicted or jailed. But he said many people couldn’t tell the difference, with thousands of Reddit and TikTok users calling her the “real” Martha.
In response to the lawsuit, Netflix said it planned to “vigorously defend” the case.
Sarandos said on Tuesday that the debate the show has sparked is “fairly unique” to Britain, adding that “it hasn’t happened anywhere else in the world”.
He also announced a new multi-year scripted series deal with Gadde and said “Baby Reindeer” will be one of Netflix’s top four global series when Netflix releases its viewer engagement report later this week (all on Made in the UK).
He added, “The first, second, third and fourth series were all produced in the UK: Fool Me Once, Baby Reindeer, Bridgerton and The Gentlemen.”
