Interesting read.
I read the play. I saw the series. I watched it all play out on here, tattle and FB.
Gadd states three or four others were falsely identified before Fiona - I'd like to see the source for this as Fiona was identified very quickly indeed. Others were falsely identified as the rapist but Martha's "inspiration" was found and put out there astonishingly fast.
Gadd says Martha had fictional qualities. It will be interesting how that plays out. She was played by Jessica as very nuanced, vulnerable and even likeable at times.
Gadd says he's only seen parts of Piers Morgan's interview. I find that incredible.
Fiona has to prove that her character and reputation have been damaged. I am not sure that she works. Her Facebook comments one could argue had already given her a reputation. She was insulted by Jessica playing her in terms of physical likeness as she didn't see it.
Richard has said the series and characterisation has been dramatized and changed. That she was Irish in his play but Scottish in the Netflix adaptation makes no sense to me. Nor the casting. Nor the job. Nor the headlines used. They all made her very easy to identify and she was identified well before she went public.
She wasn't convicted. She didn't serve time. It does purport to be true at the start although there is a caveat in the credits iirc. But her behaviours and actions are on record and therefore he hasn't defamed her in that sense - she has denied stalking but he has the receipts. She did not go to prison though so it depends on whether the viewers believed Fiona in real life, like her fictional counterpart Martha, is an ex-convict and any impact that would have on employment or relationships.
Had she not come out publicly, would she have been forgotten or recognised once the series became yesterday's news?