Not every actor would be so bold as to claim their new show is better than one of the nation’s favourite comedies, but Danny Dyer is not every actor.
After leaving EastEnders, the professional geezer is now starring in Mr Bigstuff, his first foray into scripted TV comedy, which sees him playing one of a pair of estranged brothers alongside Brassic star and the series’ creator, Ryan Sampson.
Never one to disappoint, Dyer is living up to the title, extolling the virtues of the show after hearing it was described as “Gavin And Stacey in hell” by an actress who auditioned for a role.
Ryan Sampson, who created the show, stars alongside Dyer
“I’d say it’s a lot better than Gavin And Stacey,” he tells Sky News. “I think this is a really, really clever piece of work. And I think that ultimately, we’re making television, we want to entertain people, and so the hardest discipline is to make people laugh… to make them belly laugh – and I think there’s some real belly laugh moments in this and some real surprises, stuff that just comes real left field and you’re like, what have I just watched?”
Dyer made his big screen debut in the ’90s rave generation cult classic Human Traffic, and rose to fame playing hard men in films including The Football Factory and Mean Machine. He then joined the cast of EastEnders in 2013, playing Mick Carter for more than eight years.
Now, he’s made the move from drama to comedy, returning somewhat to his hardman roots to play an alpha male on the run who tracks down his brother (played by Sampson) and upends his quiet, possibly boring life as a carpet salesman.
The character was written by Sampson especially for Dyer, who says it was something of a gift.
“It’s such a brilliant character. There’s so many different places you can go with it – he’s very British, but at the same time, he’s not very British, you know what I mean – just the way that he speaks his mind, and he’s a bit of a rebel, he’s a bit wild, but he’s got a good heart and I was blessed with some amazing dialogue that you can’t go wrong with.”
Speaking his mind is something Dyer shares with his character, having famously been an outspoken critic of the Conservative government in the past. With this show coming out as a new government comes in, the actor hopes to see some change.
Harriet Webb (left) and Judi Love also star
“We’re lacking leaders,” he says. “We need a leader and we need someone that I really feel cares, you know, because we’ve just had years and years of people not caring, and they claim to care. So that’s all we want, someone that’s got our backs and is going to make our lives slightly better, somehow.
“They’ve got a lot of making up to do, because we’re all very disenfranchised with who is looking after us, who’s governing us… it’s been a tough few years, innit.”
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In Mr Bigstuff, the two lead characters are seemingly at opposite ends of the spectrum of stereotypical manliness, and the show is billed as a look at masculinity.
“I’d love to think men could learn a bit from watching this show because, like, what is going on with men at the moment?” Sampson says.
“If this speaks to people in some way, I’d love it to be, look, these two people have chosen to be men in different ways, and it’s constrained them, and it’s hampering them in different ways, and if they could just be a little bit more like each other, maybe a little bit more honest, maybe that’ll be a good thing.”
Dyer says the extremes of their characters highlight that the middle ground is an ideal place for men to be.
“I think in the world of masculinity, if you put these two brothers together, you’ve got the perfect man, you know what I mean? You put them together, which is, as the series goes on, when they sort of rely on each other to try and pull these things out of each other – it’s a real perfect blend.”
Mr Bigstuff is on Sky Max and streaming service NOW from 17 July