How Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gunning is an overnight sensation 16 years in ... trends now

As fans continue to rave about Netflix drama Baby Reindeer, one cast member in particular has captured the imaginations of viewers - Jessica Gunning, who plays Martha the stalker.

Actress Gunning, 38, first appeared on popular TV in 2008 in an episode of Doctor Who but has only now become a global star in the Netflix drama. And from 2021, she appeared in BBC comedy-crime thriller The Outlaws alongside stars Christopher Walken and Stephen Merchant. 

In Baby Reindeer, Gunning first appears on screen when she timidly walks into the bar where Donny (Richard Gadd) is working, and appears crestfallen as she informs him she can't afford a cup of tea.

After Donny gives her a brew on the house as a gesture of kindness to a stranger, viewers are pulled into her complex and bizarre life in which she creates fantasies about her background and ultimately becomes obsessed with Donny.

Perhaps the most captivating aspect of Martha's character is that she is based on a real person who stalked Gadd for four years.

Gadd has described the real-life Martha as a complex character who was 'unwell and needed help', meaning the actress who eventually played her had some difficult lines to tread - but in his words, Gunning did an 'amazing job'.

Jessica Gunning was born in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire. She has previously revealed she fell in love with acting at a young age, when she snuck into rehearsals for school plays, which were run by her mother.

The Mirror reports she was 'in awe' of what she saw on stage, which propelled her to study acting.

After leaving school in Holmfirth, Gunning moved down to Sidcup in Bexley, south east London, where she studied at Rose Bruford drama school - an institution also attended by the likes of Stephen Graham and Gary Oldman.

When she left drama school, Gunning began her career onstage and won a small role in Much Ado About Nothing at the National Theatre.

She has had small parts in various TV shows including Doctors, Doctor Who and Holby City.

Gunning began her stage career at the National Theatre, starring in productions including Much Ado About Nothing and Major Barbara. 

She first appeared on TV in an episode of short-lived BBC Three variety show It's Adam and Shelley in 2007.

But Gunning's first memorable part was in Doctor Who series four opener Partners in Crime, starring David Tennant as the 10th Doctor and Catherine Tate in her return as companion Donna Noble.

Her character Stacey Campbell meets an gruesome end after the alien weight loss pill she has been taking accidentally goes her into overdrive and converts her whole body into a dozen cute baby aliens made of fat - an 'Adipose'.

She appeared in Mutual Friends, which starred Keeley Hawes and Alexander Armstrong, followed by a recurring role as Angela in Law & Order: UK in 2009.

Gunning played Annie the babysitter in the BBC comedy series Life of Riley between 2009 and 2019.

She played Orla in the BBC television series White Heat in 2012, followed by a lead role as Melissa Young in the BBC drama What Remains.

She has also starred in The Scandalous Lady W on BBC Two and played Shirley Allerdyce in Sky Atlantic's series Fortitude.