From their Scottish accents to their similar physical appearance, Baby Reindeer’s ‘Martha’ undoubtedly bears similarities to Richard Gadd’s alleged real-life stalker Fiona Harvey.
Following the phenomenal global success of the series, comedian Mr. Gadd, who based the Netflix hit on his real life, said he didn’t want the true identities of his abusers to be revealed, adding that this is “not the point” of the series.
In the show, Mr Gadd’s character Donny Dunn falls victim to a ruthless stalking campaign from ‘Martha’, which begins after he serves her in a London pub while working as a bartender.
So far, the Mail has chosen not to identify the real Martha, instead withholding her name and pixelating her face to protect her privacy. Now that she herself has put her real identity in the public domain, we will call her Fiona Harvey.
Mr Gadd previously made it clear that he was changing the names and specific details of the story to protect the identities of those involved, even claiming that ‘Martha’ ‘wouldn’t even recognize herself’ in the hit show.
But many viewers have taken to social media to criticize the show’s creator for choosing an “identical” actress to play Gadd’s real-life stalker.
Benjamin King, Netflix’s Senior Director of Public Policy, was asked about the streamer’s duty of care regarding Baby Reindeer and whether he was concerned that the characters could be identified. He claimed that both Netflix and Baby Reindeer producer Clerkenwell Films “took every reasonable precaution to conceal the real identities of the people involved in that story.”
Since the real Martha revealed herself as 58-year-old Fiona Harvey in Piers Morgan Uncensored last night, MailOnline looks at some key parallels between the two women.
The 58-year-old alleged stalker is depicted in Morgan’s programme
The show was commented on on social media about the resemblance between Martha and Fiona Harvey
Similar physical appearance
After watching actor Jessica Gunning play her character in Baby Reindeer, Ms Harvey claimed to be offended by her physical portrayal.
But there are some striking similarities between the two women, including their hair color and “build.”
During last night’s interview, host Piers Morgan said: “I’ve never met you before but you look and sound very similar to the actress in the drama.”
Mrs Harvey replied: ‘I haven’t seen the actress, we’re both Scottish, we both have dark hair. She’s considerably younger than me, I think she’s about 18 years younger than me.”
When Piers commented on the ‘resemblance’ between the two women, Mrs Harvey laughed: ‘You think so? That’s certainly not flattering.’
She added: “I mean people compare me to Lorraine Kelly but I look nothing like Lorraine Kelly. We all happen to have dark hair and we’re Scottish.’
Many comments on the show took to social media to criticize Martha’s striking resemblance to Mrs. Harvey, saying it put the woman in danger.
“What I don’t understand: Why would you make a show called Baby Reindeer, cast an almost identical actress and tell everyone it’s a true story if you felt sorry for her and didn’t want people to find her and chase her?” wrote one person.
Another said: ‘The Piers Morgan Baby Reindeer thing is scary how similar she is to Martha.’
A third added: ‘I remember interviewing the Baby Reindeer author and she said the Martha character had changed so much that the person wouldn’t recognize themselves. That is simply only true because she is delusional, they are identical, scary too, and very dangerous for her.’
The chilling real-life drama is inspired by the ordeal that Scottish creator and lead actor Richard Gadd endured at the hands of ‘Martha’ (played by Jessica Gunning, right)
Scottish accent
Both Mrs. Harvey and the character Martha have Scottish accents, although the real-life woman said there is a significant difference between the character’s accent and hers.
“I think the actress is from Glasgow, but I’m not sure,” she said.
Ms Harvey said she is from the Central band, despite previous media reports that she is from Fyvie in Aberdeenshire.
Background in law and strong contacts
In the show, Martha calls herself a lawyer and often talks about how she knows people with a lot of power, with famous politicians such as Gordon Brown and David Cameron appearing as contacts on her phone.
One scene shows Donny Dunn (Richard Gadd) looking at her Facebook page and discovering poorly photoshopped images of Martha with the famous figures.
Baby Reindeer, the extraordinary Netflix drama, has been viewed more than 60 million times in the past month
During last night’s interview, Ms Harvey claimed she had been in a relationship with a lawyer for the past five years, adding that she has other successful lawyers as friends.
The Scottish woman also said she has a law degree from the University of Aberdeen, which she attended in the 1980s.
When Piers was quizzed about her degree, Ms Harvey said: ‘[I got] okay numbers. I don’t mean the best of the year or anything, but good numbers.
“You ask me what grades I got in thirteen subjects, I don’t remember.”
She added: ‘It went well, I didn’t do the top of the year.’