A Scottish woman who claims to be the inspiration behind Martha from hit series “Baby Reindeer” is suing Netflix for defamation, negligence and privacy violations.

Fiona Harvey has identified herself as the woman that the character is based on and is arguing that the streaming giant told “brutal lies” about her in the show.

The lawsuit filed in California seeks over US$170m in damages who claims the Baby Reindeer series falsely depicted her as a convicted criminal who spent time in prison for stalking.

The show’s creator, comedian Richard Gadd, is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, neither Mr Gadd or Ms Harvey’s real names are used in the series and neither Netflix or Mr Gadd have confirmed that Martha was based on Ms Harvey.

BBC News says Netflix has vowed to “defend this matter vigorously”.