NETFLIX’S runaway hit Baby Reindeer has got everyone talking.
The seven-part series features a horrific true storyline involving sexual abuse that sees actor Tom Goodman-Hill playing predator Darrien O’Connor.
Who is Tom Goodman-Hill?
Born May 21, 1968, Tom Goodman-Hill is an actor who hails from Newcastle.
The star has forged an incredible TV career which includes roles in Jonathan Creek, Murder in Mind and Doctor Who.
Other roles include playing Assistant Commissioner Stone in BBC’s The Secret Agent, and the role of Adam opposite Katherine Kelly in ITV’s Cheat.
Tom has also turned his hand to comedy, having starred in The Office as Ray as well as Broken News and Goodnight Sweetheart.
Away from the limelight, Tom is married to Call The Midwife star Jessica Raine who he met during the National Theatre’s production of Earthquakes in London in 2010.
The couple married in September 2015 and welcomed a son in 2019.
Prior to his marriage to Jessica, Tom was married to Kerry Bradley and together they have two children.
Who is Darrien in Baby Reindeer?
In Baby Reindeer, Darrien O’Connor is an older TV writer who is working on a television show that Donny admires called Cotton Mouth.
He offers him help with his career and gives him advice on his stand-up show.
Donny is thrilled that someone has seen his potential and works hard to impress his new mentor.
However, things take a turn for the worst.
Donny soon realises that he is being abused by Darrien when the pair routinely take drugs together and he passes out.
Who is the real Darrien from Baby Reindeer?
Fans have turned internet sleuths and have been coming up with all sorts of theories as to who is the real Darrien O’Connor.
There have been multiple theories on social media platforms like TikTok.
However, his identity is being kept a secret by writer and lead actor Richard Gadd, who based the sick character on his own experience of being sexually abused.
Baby Reindeer was a hell of a thing to write and shoot. It shows a side of abuse that I don’t think we’ve seen before.
Richard Gadd
Speaking to The Guardian, he said: “It’s a true story, based on my early 20s when I went through some pretty crazy thing.
“There’s a flashback episode where we actually go back in time to Donny going to the Edinburgh Fringe and meeting someone in the industry who helps them in their career but goes on to abuse Donny and that’s obviously taken from my real-life experiences.
Richard went on: “It was a hell of a thing to write and shoot. It shows a side of abuse that I don’t think we’ve seen before.
“I still think there’s an idea that sexual abuse is a pill in a drink and dissolves and someone wakes up and doesn’t know where they are and that does happen, and it’s a big problem, but a lot of abuse occurs in very intimate relationships.
“I wanted to show how complicated and psychologically messed up situations could get to.”
What happens at the end of Baby Reindeer?
WARNING: Contains some spoilers from the Baby Reindeer season finale.
At the end of Baby Reindeer Donny manages to face up to the abuse that had happened to him and tells his parents.
He also goes to see Damien to get closure on what he had done to him, and the sexual abuse that had taken place.
Martha also ends up in court to face the music after stalking Donny relentlessly.
Make sure you read The Sun’s full breakdown of that emotional Baby Reindeer ending.
Sexual abuse in numbers
669,000 adults are sexually assaulted in England and Wales every year
- 1 in 5 women (8m) in the UK have been sexually abused
- 1 in 6 men (5m) in the UK have been sexually abused
- 1 in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused
Sexual abuse has been attributed to:
- 15% of all suicides in the UK
- 11% of all common mental health disorders in the UK
- 7% of alcohol dependence disorders
- 10% of drug dependence disorders
- 15% of eating disorders
- 17% of post-traumatic stress disorders
(Source: Safeline)