Richard Gadd cut a whole ‘Baby Reindeer’ episode because it deflated the tension
The planned episode was meant to add some levity to the series and take Donny away from his stalker, Martha
By Jon Blistein
Richard Gadd cut an entire episode from Baby Reindeer that was meant to inject some levity into the hit series, but wound up deflating the tension too much.
At the Future Vision television conference in Melbourne (via Variety), Gadd explained the planned episode would’ve found his character, Donny Dunn, leaving London and his stalker, Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning), and returning to Scotland to visit family. Much of the story would’ve centered around Donny and his father (played by Mark Lewis Jones) attending a soccer game.
The idea for the episode came during development, with Gadd saying the creative team kept receiving executives’ notes “about the show being too dark” and needing “to give the audience a respite” from the main stalking narrative. A script was written and the episode was shot, but during the editing process, Gadd realised that taking Martha out of the show for too long might cause viewers to lose interest.
“I felt, in a lot of ways, the sooner you get back to her, the better,” Gadd said.
Several elements of the deleted episode were absorbed into episode three of Baby Reindeer. That includes the scene where Martha breaks into Donny’s kitchen, which opened episode three, but was originally supposed to be the climax of the deleted episode.
Baby Reindeer was one of the biggest TV hits of last year, winning several major prizes at both the Golden Globes and the Emmys, including acting awards at the latter for both Gadd and Gunning. But the show also sparked some controversy and has recently been embroiled in a defamation lawsuit brought by Fiona Harvey, the alleged real-life Martha. (The case remains ongoing.)
Gadd also recently revealed he’s completed his next project, Half Man (originally called Lions), for the BBC and HBO. The six-episode series will dig into the tumultuous relationship between two estranged brothers — played by Gadd and Jamie Bell — after a cataclysmic reunion. A release date has yet to be announced.