Following Piers Morgan’s interview with the “real Martha” Fiona Harvey, criminologist David Wilson has revealed one major thing missing from the Baby Reindeer debate.
Wilson spoke about Richard Gadd’s Netflix series and its depiction of his stalker, Martha (Jessica Gunning), raising an issue that was also highlighted by Piers — that it was stated to be a true story.
The criminology expert goes on to say [via The Sun], “The key thing that’s missed for me in all of this debate — and clearly this is a story that’s going to run and run and run — is that there are every single day literally thousands of people who are suffering from the process of there being a stalker, who is making their life a problem, difficult, impossible.
“And I would just like there to be much more information about people who are experiencing stalking, much more information about where they can go for help.”
He goes on to shoutout the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which gives advice over the phone to anyone who is being stalked.
“That’s what for me has been missing: the sense in which we should be using Baby Reindeer to talk about what is an appalling offense, and how we can give help to those people who are the victims of that offense,” he adds.
Prior to this, Wilson says he watched Baby Reindeer with a sense of “fascination and horror,” having previously been stalked himself. But his initial reaction turned into “worry,” knowing what impact this would have on the real Martha.
“Even if we accept that Fiona Harvey has admitted that she is the character that is portrayed as Martha, I would accept that someone in Martha’s position would find it difficult to recognize that the behavior that they were engaging in was dysfunctional,” he explains.
“I would expect them, therefore, to present themselves in a way in which they minimized or denied entirely the behavior that was the stalking behavior.”
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
This is one of the accusations that were made about Harvey following her explosive interview with Piers last week, with many accusing her of lying and reversing the allegations to suggest Gadd was the stalker.
Piers Morgan presses Fiona Harvey on her denial of sending Richard Gadd multiple voicemails."The only explanation would be him taping me in the Hawley Arms," she claims.📺 https://t.co/TSXzPg7TUK@piersmorgan | #MarthaUncensored pic.twitter.com/ZuBfX3K1O4
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) May 9, 2024
Wilson points out that a stalker will often have an underlying personality disorder, a temporary obsession resulting from their mental health, or they might be clinically involved.
Now that Harvey has been identified by Baby Reindeer fans, if she exhibited behaviors similar to Martha’s, then the media attention could only aggravate her further and provide unhelpful validation, he adds.
Wilson doesn’t place all the blame on the viewers for trying to identify the real-life counterparts of the show’s characters, despite Gadd asking for the speculation to stop.
“If you are going to say that this is based on a true story, it’s inevitable that people will want to determine, well, who is this in real life?” he adds, saying this seems to be part of the “naivety” of Baby Reindeer.
“It’s inevitable that they were going to be uncovered, and that is a very unhealthy situation more generally for everyone involved.”
The Real Martha Uncensored is available to watch on YouTube now. You can find out more about if Harvey was ever convicted here. You can also check out TV shows and movies to watch next and the best series of 2024 so far.