Is Danny Dyer Right For Eastenders?

Danny Dyer With Danny Dyer coming into Walford as new Queen Vic landlord Mick Carter, the mockney archetype has sparked a lot of opinion from various forum sites and social media. The votes seem to be split 50/50 with some expressing their love for his working-class nature and the rest dubbing him 'Danny Dire'. To be fair, he has previously been criticized to limiting himself to the same cockney role in TV shows such as Skins or films like The Football Factory. However, this may work in his favour €“ he certainly won't be out of his depth as he will be playing the same role he has become famous for - The working-class cockney, with a different angle from the writers of the successful soap of course. The criticism of Dyer leading quite a narrow career in terms of acting roles overall, could be seen as irrelevant €“ Eastenders is full of 'cockney geezers' and therefore he would stick out like a sore thumb if he didn't fulfill his role. The job should allow him to relax into the role even more and he can express and change his character freely, in contrast to his film roles that limit him to around 120 minutes. Therefore, Dyer will be able to show how wide his talents can stretch as he is placed into various situations in the Square. This means he will have to adapt to more than just the out-of-his-depth lad with something to prove as we have seen in Football Factory and The Business. It will also be interesting to see if Eastenders brings out a more sensitive side to him, as the writers seem to try and bring even the hardest men on the square to shed a tear or two €“ for example, the Mitchell brothers. So with this in mind, don't be surprised to see Danny having more to cry about than the West Ham score. Dyer also seems to thrive under the role of being someone's right-hand man, as evident in the films previously mentioned, though more apparent in The Business. Thus, it will be interesting to see how he copes being top of the food chain as the pub landlord. Maybe it will show that this is how he works best, yet unless there is a huge personality change from his other characters, or his demeanor on panel shows, it's hard not to predict him caving under the pressure of Phil or even Shirley his on-screen sister. Linda Henry (Shirley) is another advantage to Danny €“ having previously worked with her on The Business their on-screen chemistry would have already started and with Linda an intimidating character in Walford, could Danny slot into his usual role and play as her right-hand man? Of the previous landlords you have the likes of Dirty Den, Phil Mitchell and Archie Mitchell which in fairness, are a pretty tough bunch and when compared, you would argue that Danny Dyer doesn't live up to them. On the other hand you have Steve Owen's Ricky and the current lovable landlord - Alfie Moon. In my opinion, Danny comes under this category, the cheeky bartender who's only really firm when they need to be. The first three seemed to have a darker side to them but Alfie and Ricky were presented so you couldn't help but love them. Danny's nature seems like it is impossible to add a darker side to him. He seems genuine and he just doesn't have that look about him, although with the soap's writers, you can't rule this out. However, fans of the show could argue that Danny is a bit of a replica of the soap veteran Billy Mitchell and in all honesty, they may be right. Billy has been seen to try and live up to the family name and assert himself but all too often he comes across as a wimp €“ a lovable wimp, but a wimp nonetheless. As aforementioned, Danny has played the role of the mentor's partner, rarely having to do any dirty work. Some may remember the scene in Football Factory where he is tricked into having to apologize to Billy Bright. Dyer's character Tommy completely cracks into an emotional breakdown, it will be interesting to see him in the frequent conflict that the Mitchell family come under. Having said that, this may be a clever ploy by the writers bringing Danny in with a similar personality, suggesting that there's still a bit of Mitchell in the pub. All in all I feel Dyer will be portrayed as the same cheeky cockney that he has become famous for, which although seems very 'samey', he's still likely to be dragged into trouble by his sister Shirley. As a fan of him, I can see him bringing a much-needed humour boost to the show, it will give him a chance to build a character from scratch, whether he is capable of that (and I hope he is), will either make or break his career.
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Scott Blake hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.