Posted in: BBC, TV | Tagged: bbc, cockney, danny dyer, EastEnders, emmerdale, soap opera

EastEnders Set to Say Goodbye to Danny Dyer, World's Most Cockney Man

Published Sun, 09 Jan 2022 15:05:10 -0600

EastEnders, the BBC's long-running soap opera is about to lose a major fan favourite character in 2022. Danny Dyer, arguably "The World's Most Cockney Man" who has been the landlord of the fictional Queen Vic pub that's the central location of the show, will be leaving the show after a 9-year run.

Eastenders: Danny Dyer, World's Most Cockney Man, Leaves After 9 Years — Danny Dyer in "Eastenders", still courtesy of the BBC

The Sunday Mirror reported with some glee that Dyer is leaving to star in a new Sky drama after they "gave him an offer he couldn't refuse", a payday worth six figures that also frees him from the restrictions his BBC contract placed him and his fellow castmates under, including being prohibited from appearing on other networks' shows. A BBC spokesperson denied that Dyer's announced departure has plunged the show into crisis.

"Danny will be leaving EastEnders when his contract comes to an end later this year," they said. "Danny has made Mick Carter an iconic character, which we shall always be grateful for, however, we won't be saying goodbye just yet as there's still quite some time – and plenty of explosive drama for Mick – to come before he departs Walford."

Dyer, 44, made his name in British films including Human Traffic, The Football Factory, and Mean Machine, which celebrated his Cockney "hard-man" persona and made him one of the symbols for British "Lad" culture in the 2000s. He's also been in theatre, starring in plays by Harold Pinter and starred in the movie version of the inexplicable hit farce Run for Your Wife, about a London cab driver juggling two wives. The celebrity cameo-flooded movie was critically panned as "one of the worst movies of all time" and one of the biggest bombs of all time.

Playing lovable rogue Mick Carter has earned Dyer the National Television Award in 2015, 2016 & 2019. His storylines have included an affair with his daughter-in-law, the rape of his wife, Linda Carter, and recently fighting off the advances of Albert Square's arch-villain, Janine. Here's a clip from the show of Mick helping a pregnant cab driver while trying to get to the hospital for his wife's sonogram. The cabbie is played by Dyer's real-life daughter Dani Dyer, winner of the reality show Love Island.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h5XUgeDXzY

The BBC reports that Dyer's send-off will involve a "huge storyline" that will place Mick at the "heart of some big drama". Either they'll kill him off or give him the option to come back later. EastEnders has been known to kill off a lot of its cast over the last 15 years, racking up an impressive body count since a massive plane crash out of nowhere wiped out a big chunk of the cast in one go on Emmerdale in 1993.

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