Director: Richard Gadd
Richard Gadd turns a chapter of his own life into one of the most unsettling television events of the decade with Baby Reindeer, a seven-episode drama built around a single act of kindness that spirals out of control.
What is Baby Reindeer about?
Donny Dunn is a struggling stand-up comedian working nights behind a London pub bar when a woman named Martha walks in, visibly in distress. He buys her a cup of tea. That small gesture becomes the first domino in a relationship neither of them can control, as Martha's attention toward Donny grows from persistent to consuming. The series tracks the toll this takes on Donny's career, his relationships, and his sense of safety, while also pulling back to examine his own past choices and the events that left him vulnerable to what happens next. Rather than framing either character as simply villain or victim, the show moves between black comedy, tension, and raw confession, letting Donny's own complicity and denial surface gradually. Structured almost like a memoir performed for cameras, it resists tidy resolution in favor of something closer to lived, messy truth.
Cast & crew
Richard Gadd writes, executive produces, and stars as a version of himself, drawing on real events from his life for the character of Donny. Jessica Gunning plays Martha with a performance that shifts constantly between comic, tragic, and frightening. Nava Mau appears as Teri, a love interest whose scenes with Donny are among the series' most tender, while Nina Sosanya, Danny Kirrane, and Shalom Brune-Franklin round out the supporting circle of coworkers, friends, and family who orbit Donny's unraveling life.
Context & significance
Baby Reindeer premiered in April 2024 and quickly became one of the year's most-discussed limited series, prized for treating stalking, trauma, and male sexual assault with unusual candor rather than as plot devices. Gadd has said the series began as a one-man stage show before he expanded it into television, and its mixed tone, unflinching in places, oddly funny in others, comes directly from that live-performance origin. Critics and audiences alike responded to how the show refuses to let its protagonist off the hook, even as it asks for empathy toward him.
Where & how to watch
Baby Reindeer streams on K-Time with Farsi subtitles and a Persian-dubbed track, so viewers can choose either option depending on preference. The full run is available to watch with a free K-Time account; no separate purchase or trial sign-up is needed to browse the title page itself. K-Time's interface is built around the Iranian diaspora audience, with Farsi navigation and search throughout the platform.