Netflix's "Reindeer Baby" mini-series by Scottish comedian Richard Gadd has climbed into the streaming platform's coveted ranking for the 10 most watched English-language shows, even as a potential legal fallout emerges.
The dark but at times humorous limited series edged out the first season of the American-Polish series "The Witcher" from 2019 to take tenth place in the "Most Popular TV (English)" ranking.
"Baby Reindeer" tells the story of struggling comedian called Donny who works in a bar and who is stalked by a female guest named Martha (Jessica Gunning).
The name of the show is the nickname she gives Donny (played by Gadd himself) as she develops an obsession with him in a story that becomes increasingly dark.
The show gained even more attention when a woman who says she is being depicted in the show sued the streaming service Netflix in California, demanding $170 million dollars for "loss of enjoyment of life," among other damages.
Netflix appears to have taken a risk by starting the show with the claim: "A true story." Gadd says he made the miniseries to process the disturbing experiences he suffered and to explore the consequences unprocessed trauma can have.
Within just over eight and a half weeks, the seven-part series, which was released on April 11, has clocked 84.5 million views. Views are hours watched divided by the total running time - which in this case is just under four hours.
Ninth place was taken by the second season of the costume-heavy show "Bridgerton" from 2022 (with 93.8 million views). The show's recently released third season has been overshadowed somewhat by talk of "Baby Reindeer". In first place in this category is the comedy horror series "Wednesday" from 2022 with 252 million views.
