“You wouldn’t see Olivia Colman doing this bollocks would you?” jokes Danny Dyer as he clears up a dustbin at Priory Hill & Nutts Farm Holiday Park in Kent.
But over the previous yr – around filming the return of the hit Disney+ collection Rivals – the actor, and his daughter Dani, have been spending weekends on the Isle of Sheppey, filming The Dyers’ Caravan Park (Sky One) in an try to enhance the fortunes of Priory Hill and make caravanning cool.
As Danny places it: “[Jeremy] Clarkson’s got a farm, Richard Hammond’s got a workshop … if Jamie Oliver can save school dinners, then why can’t we save the great British holiday?”
The pair have gotten correctly concerned – from cleansing the caravans to donning a bear costume to entertain kids, to finding out the problem of poos within the park’s indoor swimming pool.
Danny says he wished to make the present as he adored his childhood holidays along with his prolonged household in a caravan park in Canvey Island. “There was a real sense of community,” he says, “which I think in today’s world is severely lacking. It was the best time of my life, running about getting a bit of sea air in my lungs. These places are dying out.”
Dyer doesn’t personal Priory Hill (it has been within the Butcher household since 1951) however he has invested in it; staking not simply his cash however his popularity. Sitting in Priory Hill’s clubhouse with Dani, he says: “We’re living in a very divisive time, it’s very difficult, and … no one’s really interacting with each other any more [due to] social media.
“I do think, on a caravan site, the kids [are] just playing, laughing on bikes … fresh air in their fucking lungs. [It’s] such a beautiful thing to watch … can we bring that back? Can we get kids out all day, getting naturally tired instead of having their brain just zapped all day? Can we make that an exciting thing again?”
Sporting the moustache he has grown for Rivals’ Freddie Jones, Danny says older generations love caravanning however, “it’s about trying to get the next generation involved … It’s so accessible to go abroad, and probably cheaper.”
He acknowledges that there’s a honest diploma of snobbery to overcome: some individuals he has spoken to, “just don’t understand [the appeal]; they turn their nose up at it slightly. I think the elitism comes from, it’s a very working-class holiday … So if you’ve got a few quid, then you probably wouldn’t buy a caravan.”
Yet, Dani explains, new luxurious ones have all mod cons and are “so cosy” however costly. One on the seafront value greater than £50,000 (with a boutique hotel-style inside) however the Dyers bought it by making an amusing social media video.
Expectation’s inventive director, leisure Ben Wicks stated the pair need to guarantee, “everyone is having the time of their life when they’re on the park” and Danny has, “got a real social conscience. He worries about things that not everyone worries about.”
The pair are joyful to ship themselves up and acknowledge errors: one advertising initiative, involving a large billboard by the Sheppey Bridge, backfired and was focused with graffiti.
Danny was eager to get Dani onboard the collection as a result of she had younger concepts (she has efficiently launched glamping to the positioning) and was in a position to rein in his extra extravagant plans.
Attending a residents’ assembly to focus on enhancements led to the pair holding a sports activities day, full with a mobility scooter – a “granny prix”. It was a success, however value about £10,000.
The present is made by Expectation TV, the corporate accountable for Clarkson’s Farm, and there are similarities – significantly the thought of its fish-out-of-water movie star stars being guided by knowledgable native staff and characterful residents.
But Leysdown-on-Sea is much less prosperous than the Cotswolds, and extra open to the TV tourism the Sky present may deliver. As Priory Hill’s co-owner Jimi Butcher explains: “Already the hype in Leysdown is incredible.”
When I visited the island, the locals had been pleasant however there was proof that some are struggling. One enterprise had an indication saying: “Closed for now due to problems.” But the city and Priory Hill & Nutts Farm have gorgeous views throughout the bay to Whitstable – that beacon of how a as soon as run-down city might be rejuvenated by tourism.
The pair hope the present will assist reinvigorate a “very deprived” space that has “a real charm”. Although, says Dani, their other intention is to not “tread on” the house owners’ toes, however to “put a lot of smiles on people’s faces” – from viewers to Priory Hill’s residents and managers.
However, Priory Hill was badly affected by Covid and the price of dwelling; when the Dyers acquired concerned the enterprise had 38 empty pitches, inflicting a lack of £150,000 in potential income each year.
The co-owners, Alex and Jimi, misplaced their father, Michael, (who beforehand ran the park) seven years in the past and say “it’s not been the same” since, however the Dyers have “brought some energy back”.
This has included star appearances from EastEnders actor Shaun Williamson and Harry Redknapp, who helped with a soccer match the Dyers organised to deliver the positioning’s residents collectively.
With his lauded look on ITV’s The Assembly and Rivals, Danny’s profession is experiencing a renaissance. “We don’t know how [the show] is going to be received,” he says, however he and his daughter really feel a duty in direction of the residents and to attempt to use their fame correctly – even when his public persona doesn’t at all times open doorways for him.
“I am from a working-class background. People might have had a perception of me and [Dani], and then if they don’t really like you it’s about trying to win them over.”
He says he’s “getting better” at coping with fame and remembering to be “true to yourself”, not “losing [who] the fuck you are. Being famous … it’s very toxic. I do love being in these sort of surroundings, I really do, around other peasants like me!” he jokes.
But not the whole lot he’s engaged on is down to earth. He’s been writing a play about his friendship along with his late mentor Harold Pinter, known as When Harry Met Danny. “And,” he says, “I would love to play Harold.”
