A Member of Parliament in Britain will be writing to Netflix to get confirmation on what it told a Parliamentary committee about the woman who is said to have provided the influence for the character of Martha from the show Baby Reindeer.
Netflix executive Benjamin King recently stood before the Culture Media and Sport Committee and told them that Baby Reindeer is “obviously a true story of the horrific abuse that the writer and protagonist Richard Gadd suffered at the hands of a convicted stalker”.
Now, SNP MP John Nicolson is asking Netflix to substantiate their evidence surrounding the real-life woman who is believed to have inspired the character of Martha, with the politician claiming that the streaming service’s evidence is limited.
“It’s clear that the evidence given by Netflix to the select committee is disputed,” Nicolson recently told the BBC. “The charge made – of a conviction – is very important. Journalists can find no evidence to back up the Netflix claim”.
The woman who is said to have inspired the character of Martha has been revealed to be Fiona Harvey, who had appeared in a number of media outlets, including Piers Morgan, ever since the show first arrived on Netflix. However, neither show creator Richard Gadd or Netflix have confirmed this, and Harvey claims that she has never been convicted of stalking Gadd.
Baby Reindeer, based on a “true story” according to its first episode, tells the account of Gadd and his stalking by a peculiar and intense woman. Following the success of the show, watched by 65 million people globally, some internet figures began a search for the real-life people involved in Gadd’s stalking case.
Before long, Fiona Harvey was identified, and when talking with Morgan, she claimed that she had found herself in an “absolutely horrendous” situation because of the popularity of the show. As of yet, though, there has been no evidence of Fiona ever being convicted of stalking.
“She is emphatic that there was no court case,” Morgan had said, who was queried over the ethical implications of interviewing someone who is potentially a convicted stalker. “There was no conviction. She certainly never pled guilty, she says, and there was no prison sentence.”
In the show, though, Martha’s character goes to prison, which led many to believe that Harvey had also spent time in prison or had at least been convicted. Now, MP Nicolson is asking Netflix to explain their actions.
