My little reindeer: the “real” Martha comes out of the silence

“I wish I had never set foot in this bar.” Her name is Fiona Harvey, and she's telling her side of the story. Be careful, certain information risks revealing essential parts of the series!

The TV series My little reindeer keep on going. The series, released on Netflix on April 11, tells how Richard Gadd, its creator, screenwriter and main actor, became the victim of a woman named Martha who, for several years, harassed him with massages, intruding into every corner of his existence and even going so far as to physically and sexually assault. This story is Gadd's. But the artist has repeated several times, it is above all a fiction.

A few days after the broadcast, Gadd had to send a message to his fans asking them to stop speculating about the true identities of the characters. “That’s not what our show is about,” he wrote in an Instagram story relayed by one of the victims of these speculations. In vain.

Because the damage was already done. A few days later, a woman gave an interview to Daily Record by claiming to be the real Martha, the character that Richard Gadd designates as his stalker in the series. In the columns of the British media, this anonymous person declared to be “the real victim”. And for good reason: after being stalked on social networks, she found herself the subject of death threats and a flood of insults from “crazy people on the Internet,” she said again.

The creator of My Little Reindeer asks fans not to look for the real characters in the series

Today, Fiona Harvey testifies openly. A fifty-eight-year-old Scot, she chose Piers Morgan's set to tell her version of the story and use her “right of reply” as introduced by the controversial presenter. An imperative to which Fiona Harvey believes she was forced:

“The internet sleuth found me, harassed me and threatened to kill me. So it wasn't really a choice, I was forced into this situation,” she said in the preamble to this interview.

Fiona is adamant. According to her, and despite what Richard Gadd and Netflix may say, the events depicted in the seven episodes of My little reindeer never arrived. The comedian would never have taken pity on her, she would never have been offered drinks or anything else at the bar where he worked, nor would she have attacked his partner or contacted her parents. She would never have been under a restraining order or sentenced to prison either.

“It’s a work of fiction, it’s a hyperbolic work, as I’ve always said. There are two real facts in this story: his name is Richard Gadd and he worked as a bartender (…) at the Holy Arms and we met two or three times,” she says.

As for the 41,000 emails, 350 voice messages, 744 tweets, 48 ​​Facebook messages and 106 letters sent, of which Richard Gadd and Netflix claim to have proof, all of that would be nothing but lies according to her. “I think he probably invented them himself,” she says.

“The story, the play and the Netflix series are not true. (…) In fact, they are lying. (…) They constructed this story as a true story, but it is not, it is not the case at all. Even if the email thing was true, the rest is not.”

Better, “Martha can't be me, because a number of allegations made to me by journalists are simply false,” assures Fiona Harvey.

But then, why would Richard Gadd want to bring this story to the screen? When asked the question, the Scotswoman replied:

“I think he wanted to make money. I think he attacked someone who already had a history with this article on harassment. Harassment is fashionable, going to prison is fashionable. What do English writers or teachers say? Write about what you know.”

In the article Fiona Harvey refers to, Laura Wray, Member of Parliament, accused Harvey of inappropriate behavior while she was an employee of her law firm. Accusations that Fiona Harvey denies outright. For her, Richard Gadd came across this paper and made it the starting point of the show Baby Reindeer (2019), from which the series is adapted.

For this man whom she says she has very rarely met (she says she has only met him five or six times), Fiona Harvey has only harsh words: “I think he is psychotic (…). I find this behavior scandalous,” she said, later even going so far as to call him a “psychopath”.

“I think he always wanted this to come out, to persecute someone, to distract attention from him and this rape allegation, and I just think he has extreme psychiatric issues,” she adds.

Problems that Gadd, or rather Donny, his persona fictional, attributed to Martha in the series.

“He should look a little closer to home, to himself, as someone who needs helpreacts Fiona. I think he always had (poor mental health). Whether there was an alleged rape, whether the rape was real or whether it was conceived in his mind, I think it would have made him even sicker.”

Beware of My Little Reindeer

This is actually what the creator explains in the series, which mainly aims to analyze how a trauma suffered years previously could have upset his psyche to such an extent that he was unable to react and free himself from the unhealthy relationship he had with Martha. My little reindeer is Richard Gadd's catharsis.

“The phenomenon has spread so quickly around the world that I didn't expect it, in many ways,” he said on the set of the show This Morning. Moreover, without promotion, the success of the series surprised many people. It seems that on the production side, no one expected that this story would cause such enthusiasm, and that the reaction of the fans was to try to find out who the real Martha was, even if they could have known. doubt. Hence the actor's intervention on Instagram.

But for Fiona Harvey, this message is worthless: “I saw the headline, it was all over the BBC two weeks ago for four days. (…) It's a bit strong coffee, isn't it? Fans continue to speculate”. “From someone who said they were sorry for me, I received no apology,” she said again.

Moreover, the victim of threats and insults of all kinds, the Scotswoman does not intend to stop there. She explains that she is organizing to file a complaint against Richard Gadd, Netflix, the Daily Mail And “everyone who says this story is true and harasses (her)”.

She finally addresses those who question her version of the facts:

“I think you should look at the number of articles that Richard Gadd and Jessica (Gunning), the actress, wrote and the way he and Netflix promoted this project. I think you should watch him say I'm some kind of mentally ill and judge for yourself, because I can't change your mind, I can only refute what was said. You have to form your own opinion, but my opinion is made up, he's a liar. And my friends say the same thing.”

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