(Credits: Netflix)

As the Baby Reindeer lawsuit looks set to rumble on, the higher-ups at netflix are standing by the show as a dramatic work of fiction and “not a documentary”.

Anne Mensah was instead keen to highlight the positive impact the show had on male abuse survivors. The vice president of original series at the streaming platform made the statement while appearing at Edinburgh’s TV Festival.

“It was important for those reasons, and if you feel [the controversy] detracted from that, I would be absolutely disappointed,” Mensah told The Independent. “I absolutely stand by all the show. It’s drama, not a documentary.”

The show’s creator, Richard Gadd, based the show on an alleged sexual assault he experienced from a woman who he claimed was stalking him. It led to an internet hunt for the real person on whom Gadd had based Martha.

Safeguarding is taken “incredibly seriously” at Netflix, claimed Mensha, following a warning from the UK government. “I don’t make shows for publicity’s sake,” she said, adding: “It was about giving [Gadd] the space to tell that story. Chasing publicity is the antithesis of what I believe in.”

Internet sleuths pinpointed Fiona Harvey as the likely culprit for who Martha was based on. Harvey has since filed a $170million lawsuit, with her attorney now latching on to a recent interview in which Gadd claimed the platform had pressured him into adding a “this is a true story” disclaimer to every episode.

“This is far worse than negligence, this is intentional misconduct if they were told, ‘Don’t make it a true story.’ And they said it was true,” Harvey’s lawyer told Piers Morgan Uncensored. “They are going to have to show that they have the facts to support their claim.”

The story looks set to trundle on.