Danny Dyer has swapped the ducking and diving of EastEnders for a drama set a world away in Australia. But did it end up being a home from home?
Heat starring Danny Dyer will be coming soon to Channel 5
Ed Grenby - 19 May 2023
When a middle-aged man in half-moon spectacles pops up on my Zoom screen, I’m not sure I recognise him. But the minute he opens his mouth, there’s no doubt: Danny Dyer, late of EastEnders, presenter of the Channel 4 reality show Scared of the Dark and soon to star in Channel 5’s intense new drama Heat is here to talk about filming the latter in Australia. I’ve taken out most of the expletives…
The Australian outback is a long way from Albert Square, Danny. Were you trying to make a point?
It was my first post-EastEnders job, but nah. I’ve always been intrigued with Australia because it’s just so f***ing far away. It’s a whole day ahead of us – it’s like time travel! My dad came out and said he was gonna see which horses won the races and then ring home and put some bets on. And I couldn’t believe it, going out there: I flew seven hours to Dubai, got a bit p***ed on that flight, nearly missed my connection, then sat down and the screen said it was another 14 and a half hours to Melbourne!
Where did you stay? What did you do?
Heat is set in the outback, in the middle of nowhere, with forest fires threatening the villa where all the characters are holed up – it’s a real pressure-cooker atmosphere, with all these secrets and betrayals flying about. But they put us actors up right in the heart of Melbourne. We filmed it in winter, and it was cold and rainy every day, so mostly we just ate all this amazing Aussie food. I went to some incredible Italian restaurants, had the best cheese toasties in the world, had my Sunday roast at a little Irish pub, ate a lot of Chinese dumplings and drank their beautiful lager. There was a gym in my complex, but I never saw the f***er once.
Would you go back?
Heat does leave things open at the end, but I wouldn’t go back without taking my kids, cos I really missed them. Because of the time difference, I couldn’t call them in the day. I was getting up for work and they were going to bed.
Perhaps other work will take you back there, or that’s where Mick Carter ended up after his car plunged off the cliff in your last episode of EastEnders?
That’s a hell of a swim. But it would be an interesting spin-off, Carter in Australia. I don’t regret leaving, but it was really emotional for me. Mick’s exit felt like a real “full stop”, but maybe it was a “dot, dot, dot”.
Or I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!?
Not in a million years. Why do people do it? I mean, maybe they’ve got a big tax bill, or they need to raise their profile. But I don’t need the money or my profile raised. And it’s brutal on your personality, too: to be voted out first must be a real kick up the b******s. Especially if Matt Hancock’s still in. I prefer the Ant and Dec role: do a bit of filming in the morning, mocking the celebrities, then go and play golf all day.
Did you get on with the Aussies?
I love ’em. They’ve got a great sense of humour, just like Londoners. They kept warning me about “drop bears”, these weird creatures that can fall out of trees on you, until I worked out they were winding me up. Even more surprising was that people recognised me. Normally, once I get on a plane to go abroad, I’m anonymous – unless I go to Ibiza, in which case I’m screwed. But in Oz, they still have all our old comedies on TV, like Eight Out of Ten Cats Does Countdown, which I did years ago.
Did you like being recognised on the other side of the planet?
Well I’m 46 this year, and I’ve been famous for most of my adult life. It’s intoxicating, but you can get to a point where you don’t know what you are any more, because you’re just a cartoon character. And the media will turn on you. That’s what Dani [his daughter, of Love Island fame] found. She went through some very dark days but she had support around her, she had me. I never had that, because I come from a very working-class background, and I had no one to talk to about it until [playwright] Harold Pinter took me under his wing. But at one point, I had this crazy level of fame and no money. I thought, “I’m really famous, like David Beckham. I must be really rich and have a mansion and guard dogs running around, like him.” But it wasn’t the case actually – and I had my own very dark days. I’m quite proud of myself for not doing anything stupid, for coming through it, and – I hope – for being a better person on the other side of it.
ED GRENBY
Heat starring Danny Dyer will be coming soon to Channel 5
When a middle-aged man in half-moon spectacles pops up on my Zoom screen, I’m not sure I recognise him. But the minute he opens his mouth, there’s no doubt: Danny Dyer, late of EastEnders, presenter of the Channel 4 reality show Scared of the Dark and soon to star in Channel 5’s intense new drama Heat is here to talk about filming the latter in Australia. I’ve taken out most of the expletives…
The Australian outback is a long way from Albert Square, Danny. Were you trying to make a point?
It was my first post-EastEnders job, but nah. I’ve always been intrigued with Australia because it’s just so f***ing far away. It’s a whole day ahead of us – it’s like time travel! My dad came out and said he was gonna see which horses won the races and then ring home and put some bets on. And I couldn’t believe it, going out there: I flew seven hours to Dubai, got a bit p***ed on that flight, nearly missed my connection, then sat down and the screen said it was another 14 and a half hours to Melbourne!
Where did you stay? What did you do?
Heat is set in the outback, in the middle of nowhere, with forest fires threatening the villa where all the characters are holed up – it’s a real pressure-cooker atmosphere, with all these secrets and betrayals flying about. But they put us actors up right in the heart of Melbourne. We filmed it in winter, and it was cold and rainy every day, so mostly we just ate all this amazing Aussie food. I went to some incredible Italian restaurants, had the best cheese toasties in the world, had my Sunday roast at a little Irish pub, ate a lot of Chinese dumplings and drank their beautiful lager. There was a gym in my complex, but I never saw the f***er once.
Would you go back?
Heat does leave things open at the end, but I wouldn’t go back without taking my kids, cos I really missed them. Because of the time difference, I couldn’t call them in the day. I was getting up for work and they were going to bed.
Perhaps other work will take you back there, or that’s where Mick Carter ended up after his car plunged off the cliff in your last episode of EastEnders?
That’s a hell of a swim. But it would be an interesting spin-off, Carter in Australia. I don’t regret leaving, but it was really emotional for me. Mick’s exit felt like a real “full stop”, but maybe it was a “dot, dot, dot”.
Or I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!?
Not in a million years. Why do people do it? I mean, maybe they’ve got a big tax bill, or they need to raise their profile. But I don’t need the money or my profile raised. And it’s brutal on your personality, too: to be voted out first must be a real kick up the b******s. Especially if Matt Hancock’s still in. I prefer the Ant and Dec role: do a bit of filming in the morning, mocking the celebrities, then go and play golf all day.
Did you get on with the Aussies?
I love ’em. They’ve got a great sense of humour, just like Londoners. They kept warning me about “drop bears”, these weird creatures that can fall out of trees on you, until I worked out they were winding me up. Even more surprising was that people recognised me. Normally, once I get on a plane to go abroad, I’m anonymous – unless I go to Ibiza, in which case I’m screwed. But in Oz, they still have all our old comedies on TV, like Eight Out of Ten Cats Does Countdown, which I did years ago.
Did you like being recognised on the other side of the planet?
Well I’m 46 this year, and I’ve been famous for most of my adult life. It’s intoxicating, but you can get to a point where you don’t know what you are any more, because you’re just a cartoon character. And the media will turn on you. That’s what Dani [his daughter, of Love Island fame] found. She went through some very dark days but she had support around her, she had me. I never had that, because I come from a very working-class background, and I had no one to talk to about it until [playwright] Harold Pinter took me under his wing. But at one point, I had this crazy level of fame and no money. I thought, “I’m really famous, like David Beckham. I must be really rich and have a mansion and guard dogs running around, like him.” But it wasn’t the case actually – and I had my own very dark days. I’m quite proud of myself for not doing anything stupid, for coming through it, and – I hope – for being a better person on the other side of it.
ED GRENBY
Heat starring Danny Dyer will be coming soon to Channel 5