The year is 2020. Richard Gadd is a moderately successful British comedian known in the live performance circuit. He has written and performed a one-man stage monoluge titled "Baby Reindeer", a raw and emotionally intense account of his life between 2015–2017, intended as one-time preformance for the Edinbrugh fringe festival.
The show covers Gadd's experiences of being groomed and sexually abused by a well-known T.V. producer, and his prolonged stalking by a woman he met while working as a bartender. Upon watching the show, a Netflix producer approaches Gadd, offering him the opportunity to adapt Baby Reindeer into a Netflix drama miniseries. The show would depict the events described in Gadd's monologue, have him star and write substantial portions of it, and would require a full-time contract with Netflix, preventing him from doing comedy during the show's production.