In some circles, Danny Dyer is a national treasure. The man was the original Noughties rent-a-lad, starring in Human Traffic, The Football Factory and The Business. He played Eastenders’ Mick Carter for nine years and made headlines when, in 2016, BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? traced his family tree to two kings: William the Conquerer and Edward III. Does his latest on-screen turn in Sky's Mr Bigstuff add a jewel to his crown? Not likely.
This so-called comedy, which runs over six 30-minute episodes, focuses on an average man whose life is knocked sideways by the reemergence of an estranged brother, apparently on the run from his shady past. Slow and lacklustre, it leans heavily on Dyer’s real-life character with turns from former on-screen colleagues with no drive of its own.
Creator, writer and lead Ryan Sampson plays Glen Campbell, a man who leads an unnaturally dull existence despite sharing a name with a country music legend.
Less Rhinestone Cowboy, more weak-chinned wet blanket, Glen works in a carpet showroom in Leyton, smarming up to his boss for a promotion to pay for his wedding to fiancée Kirsty (played by Harriet Webb). If Glen were a colour he would be grey; and not a moody deep tone or the elegant version you see on sofa upholstery. Glen is static.
Presumably, this is to contrast against his estranged brother Lee, played by Dyer, who suddenly and mysteriously bursts back into his life with colourful chaos, mostly while making vague threats and sauntering around in a floral dressing gown and y-fronts (no explanation as to why).
Dyer plays Lee as a hyper-caricatured version of himself: the C-bombs start to drop within the first five minutes of episode one, and things continue along that vein with plenty of “dallyns”, “trotters” and mono-syllabic grenades in place of an actual plot. Dyer plays Lee exactly as you would expect Dyer to. Yet even for Danny Dyer fans, things get tedious fast.
The fact that Ned Dennehy (Peaky Blinders) and Geoff Bell, who starred alongside Dyer in The Business (2005), are involved leads one to anticipate some good old-fashioned East End gangster action. Keep anticipating, buddy. They too have been let down by a weak plot and poor writing, reduced to cartoon hard men: all gruff, zero bite.
Webb plays kleptomaniac Kirsty well enough – she’s been suspended from work for stealing and continues shoplifting, despite telling Glen she’s “not a fan of secrets” (is anyone?) – but it’s her mum, played by Victoria Alcock, who is the only believable and likeable character in the show.
The plot crawls along with nothing much happening in the first four half-hour episodes (save for a strange sunbed scuffle), speeding up towards the end with a limp finale.
I chuckled maybe twice over six episodes of this supposed comedy – that’s generous; they were barely amused huffs – while waiting for something, anything, interesting to happen or the story to move past Dyer’s trademark catchphrases. That said, it was a shame that there was no resurrection of his Human Traffic “Nice one bruva!” line. For this, it would have been perfect.
There are attempts to address men’s friendships (which unravels into a Fight Club-like scene – it feels far too toxic masculinity for this day and age) and mental health issues. But they are poorly executed, especially compared to Channel 4’s Big Boys which touches upon the same subjects with far more humour and heart.
The fact is that there are much better things to watch right now. Save yourself the effort and switch the channel: this Dyer show isn’t worth the trouble.
