Netflix viewers praise 'skin crawling' and 'deeply disturbing' drama series as 'best thing they've watched on TV for years'
Topics: TV And Film, Netflix
Lucy Devine
Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: TV And Film, Netflix
It's been quite a week for true-crime fans on Netflix.
Not only has the streaming platform dropped feature-length doc, What Jennifer Did, but another recent addition has been getting heaps of praise online.
Some are even putting it up there with the likes of Breaking Bad and Fleabag.
The 'deeply disturbing' show is based on the true story of comedian, Richard Gadd.
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The Netflix drama focuses on the writer and performer's warped relationship with a middle-aged woman named Martha (played by Jessica Gunning), who becomes his stalker after they meet at the pub in which he works.
After Martha gets ahold of his contact information, she begins bombarding him with increasingly-terrifying messages, all through the day and night, all of which end in the words, 'sent from my iPhone'.
In the real-life version, Gadd was harassed by a woman he barely knew. In an act of kindness, Gadd had once given her a free cup of tea.
But when the woman began visiting the pub where he worked, she became convinced there was a connection between them.
She sent over 40,000 emails, 740 tweets, 350 hours of voicemails, 100 letters and 45 Facebook messages.
Following the ordeal, Gadd decided to adapt the story himself for his own, one-man production. It was later adapted for Netflix - called Baby Reindeer - along with several other additional cast members.
"Stalking on television tends to be very sexed-up," Gadd told Netflix as the show landed. "It has a mystique, it’s somebody in a dark alley way. It’s somebody who’s really sexy, who’s very normal, but then they go strange bit by bit.
"But stalking is a mental illness. I really wanted to show the layers of stalking with a human quality I hadn’t seen on television before."
It's fair to say Baby Reindeer has been a huge hit with viewers, with many calling it 'extraordinary'.
"#BabyReindeer is an extraordinary piece of television. At turns hilarious & deeply disturbing, Richard Gadd's willingness to tell his story with, often, searing, skin crawling honesty puts it up there with I May Destroy You & Fleabag. Astounding writing, directing & acting," one person tweeted.
Another said: "Breaking Bad has been my favourite TV show since the final episode in 2013, today it has been dethroned by #BabyReindeer. Sat at my couch utterly blown away by this show!!!"
And a third added: "#BabyReindeer is the best thing I’ve watched on tv for years. Absolutely insane, so much happens, and the fact it is a true story played by the REAL man?! I don’t know how he was able to put himself in the place he was to make this. Unbelievable."
If you're yet to watch, you can catch Baby Reindeer on Netflix now.