You Meets Fleabag In Netflix's 7-Part Psychological Thriller With Near-Perfect RT Score
If a dysfunctional, Fleabag-esque unreliable narrator found themselves in a stalker thriller not dissimilar to You, the result is Netflix's seven-episode psychological thriller miniseries that became a watercooler hit when it was released in 2024. You and Fleabag were pop culture sensations for very different reasons. A glossy, soapy five-season Netflix thriller series, You explored toxic masculinity and how it relates to modern love through serial killer Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), a misogynistic stalker whose romantic obsessions inevitably turn murderous.
On the other hand, Prime Video's Fleabag is a tight two-season cringe comedy series created by and starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge, based on her one-woman show of the same name. From Girls to Trainwreck, plenty of other 2010s movies and shows examined the very messy personal lives of millennial women, but Fleabag stood apart with its fourth-wall-breaking narration that gave the protagonist an intentionally uncomfortable level of intimacy with the audience.
From their origins as one-person Edinburgh Festival Fringe plays to their acclaimed critical reception to their multitude of Primetime Emmy wins, Fleabag and Netflix's Baby Reindeer have a lot in common. Based on Richard Gadd's real-life experience, Baby Reindeer centers on Donny Dunn (Gadd), an aspiring comic who, like Fleabag, lives in London and is trying to figure out who he is as a romantic and sexual person.
Edinburgh Fringe · Netflix · True Story How Well Do You Know Richard Gadd? “The truth doesn’t always set you free. Sometimes it just opens another door.”
👁Baby
ReindeerBased on a true story
🎪Stand-Up
ComedyThe Fringe circuit
💔Trauma
& TruthArt from pain
🎥Netflix
EraGlobal phenomenon
🏯EdinburghWhere it all started
01
Before it became a global Netflix sensation in 2024, Baby Reindeer originated as a one-man stage show. At which world-famous comedy festival did Richard Gadd first perform it?
✓ Correct! Baby Reindeer debuted at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019, where it won the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award (formerly the Perrier Award). Gadd’s raw, confessional one-man show stunned audiences and critics before Netflix adapted it into a limited series.
✗ Not quite! The answer is the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Gadd premiered Baby Reindeer at the Fringe in 2019, winning the Edinburgh Comedy Award for best show. The Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival and has been the launchpad for countless British comedy careers.
02
In the Netflix series, Gadd plays a fictionalized version of himself — a struggling comedian and bartender who becomes the target of an obsessive stalker. What is the name of this character?
✓ Correct! Gadd plays Donny Dunn, a bartender and aspiring comedian living in London. The character is a fictionalized stand-in for Gadd himself, and the show blurs the line between autobiography and drama as it explores how a simple act of kindness to a lonely stranger spirals into a nightmare.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Donny Dunn. While based on Gadd’s real experiences, the character was given a fictional name. Donny’s story as a struggling comedian who offers a cup of tea to a woman at his bar — and the obsessive stalking that follows — became one of 2024’s most talked-about TV narratives.
03
The stalker Martha Scott became one of the most discussed TV characters of 2024. Which actress delivered the critically acclaimed performance that earned her widespread recognition?
✓ Correct! Jessica Gunning’s portrayal of Martha Scott was a revelation. She brought terrifying unpredictability and surprising vulnerability to the role, making Martha simultaneously menacing and pitiable. The performance earned Gunning an Emmy Award and turned her into a household name overnight.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Jessica Gunning. While all four are brilliant British actresses, it was Gunning who brought Martha to life with a performance that shifted between comedy, menace, and heartbreak — often within a single scene. She won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress for the role.
04
The title “Baby Reindeer” comes from a specific detail in the story. Where does this unusual nickname originate?
✓ Correct! Martha tells Donny he reminds her of a soft toy baby reindeer she had as a child. The nickname becomes her term of endearment for him, and the title captures the unsettling intimacy of the stalker-victim dynamic — a pet name that feels both tender and deeply invasive.
✗ Not quite! The answer is a soft toy. Martha tells Donny he reminds her of a stuffed baby reindeer she owned as a child, and the nickname sticks. It’s a small, disarming detail that captures the show’s central tension — how something seemingly innocent can become the foundation for something deeply disturbing.
05
Baby Reindeer wasn’t Gadd’s first Fringe triumph. His earlier show “Monkey See Monkey Do” also tackled deeply personal trauma and won which prize at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe?
✓ Correct! “Monkey See Monkey Do” won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show in 2016. It dealt with a sexual assault Gadd experienced, told through a confessional, genre-defying one-man show. This made Gadd one of the youngest ever winners and established his signature style of blending trauma with dark comedy.
✗ Not quite! The answer is the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show. “Monkey See Monkey Do” won the top prize in 2016, years before Baby Reindeer. Both shows share Gadd’s unflinching autobiographical style, using comedy as a vehicle to process trauma in front of a live audience.
06
At the 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards, Baby Reindeer was a major winner. Which of the following Emmys did Richard Gadd personally take home?
✓ Correct! Gadd won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. He also won Outstanding Limited Series as an executive producer. While nominated for Lead Actor, the acting prize went elsewhere. His writing win recognized the extraordinary achievement of adapting his own lived experience into riveting television.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series. Gadd won for writing and also took home the Outstanding Limited Series trophy as a producer. While he was nominated for Lead Actor, the writing Emmy was his personal win — a fitting honor for a show built entirely on his words and experience.
07
Where does Donny first meet Martha, offering her the free cup of tea that sets the entire story in motion?
✓ Correct! Donny meets Martha at the pub where he works as a bartender. She comes in visibly upset, and he offers her a free cup of tea out of simple kindness. That one compassionate gesture becomes the catalyst for an escalating campaign of stalking that consumes his life — the terrible irony at the heart of the show.
✗ Not quite! The answer is the pub where Donny works as a bartender. Martha walks in looking distressed, and Donny offers her a cup of tea on the house. This small act of kindness is what Martha latches onto, beginning the obsessive stalking that drives the entire series.
08
Richard Gadd grew up in which Scottish town, where he first developed his love of comedy and performing before heading to university and eventually the Edinburgh Fringe circuit?
✓ Correct! Gadd grew up in Wormit, a small village in Fife, Scotland. He later attended the University of Edinburgh, where he began performing stand-up comedy. His Scottish roots and working-class background heavily inform the grounded, unvarnished quality of his storytelling.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Fife. Gadd grew up in the small Fife village of Wormit before studying at the University of Edinburgh. While he’s now based in London and known globally, his Scottish upbringing remains central to his identity and his approach to honest, unflinching comedy.
Show’s Over · Results Filed Your Final Score
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/ 8
Standing ovation — or still in the cheap seats?
Donny's life changes forever when he offers a free cup of tea to a woman named Martha (Jessica Gunning) at the pub where he works. Though he was just being kind to a pitiful yet charming stranger, Martha develops an intense obsession with Donny after their interaction and proceeds to mercilessly stalk and harass him. What's perhaps more terrifying than the slick stalking style of Joe Goldberg is Martha's unhinged, unabashed approach — and the fact that Donny finds validation in her affection.
Though Donny narrates Baby Reindeer with a confessional style similar to both You and Fleabag, the Netflix series is entirely its own beast. Baby Reindeer deserves every one of its flowers, and it is an absolute must-watch.
While You leans on stalker thriller tropes, and to great effect, Baby Reindeer is more of a character-driven series, eschewing standard genre beats for a deep exploration of Donny's psyche, and how the trauma of his past informs how he behaves in his present. Baby Reindeer makes it clear that Donny is a victim who doesn't deserve Martha's torment while openly showing how his self-destructive behavior is only making his situation worse.
The series is also highly empathetic to Martha without ever excusing her heinous actions. She's not a monster who feels entitled to Donny's love like Joe Goldberg; she's a woman so lonely that she interprets a small act of kindness as a grand romantic gesture. Donny, whose unprocessed trauma has led to intense isolation, wholly identifies with Martha's loneliness and unintentionally tethers himself to her.
This is a lot to unpack, and Baby Reindeer's brilliance lies in how the series is able to accomplish this on such a deep level in just seven half-hour episodes. It's a wild and disturbing ride all the way to Baby Reindeer's incredibly poignant ending. Though Gadd's most recent series, HBO's Half Man, had a much more polarized reception, there's no denying the astonishing feat he pulled off with Baby Reindeer.