Danny Dyer and Dani’s caravan park series divides viewers over treatment of owners
The new series centres on danny dyer and his daughter Dani attempting to revive a struggling seaside holiday park, but early episodes have drawn criticism for what reviewers call a lazy, shambolic approach that leaves owners exposed. The six-part series follows the pair through their first year at the family-run park and highlights clashes over what the site actually needs.
Priory Hill and Nutts Farm: two names, one struggling site in Leysdown
The project is framed around Priory Hill — named in one account as the family-run park in Leysdown-on-sea on the Isle of Sheppey — and elsewhere referred to as Priory Hill & Nutts Farm holiday park in Leysdown, Kent. Both descriptions place the work on the Kent coast and present the show as an attempt to reinvigorate the industry and bring back "the great British holiday. " The publicity stresses nostalgia as a driving force: danny dyer says he romanticised trips to Canvey Island with his nan, grandad and cousins in the 1980s.
Danny Dyer missed the opening while owner Jimi waited in the February rain
The sequence that established early tensions shows Danny absent from the park's opening day because he was at the Brit awards instead. Owner Jimi, who has been running the business with his sister Alex since their father died three years ago, and the longstanding management team expected the new celebrity investor and figurehead to attend. "Lot of disappointed people, to be honest, " Jimi says, standing in the February rain amid chalets and vans he is trying to keep as a viable business.
Site directors Paul and Darren, site manager Mark and residents meet the Dyers' promises with scepticism
The management line-up named on-screen includes site directors Paul and Darren and site manager Mark. After a half-hearted apology and a hastily called meeting, Jimi, Paul, Darren and Mark sit stony-faced in the front row while residents offer vitriolic criticism of the current regime. The criticism lands on the people who run the park day to day; Dyer asks for suggestions for improvements and responds by promising more or less everything, a reaction that the team and residents find hard to take seriously.
Practical constraints: night lights, a costly indoor pool and an empty field of pitches
Local staff explain a number of practical constraints the show repeatedly confronts. The "broken" night lights were removed after people complained about teenagers gathering beneath them. A suggested indoor pool is said to require a minimum of £250, 000, a sum described on-screen as unfindable. A long-desired football pitch or adventure playground is also discussed, with the management saying no one wants such facilities immediately outside their chalet or van. The series notes a harsh commercial reality: in a post-Covid environment there are 38 pitches lying empty, and the episode commentary trails off mid-phrase, unclear in the provided context.
How the series is presented and where to watch
The programme is presented as Danny putting his money, reputation and sanity on the line to modernise the park and inspire a new generation of holidaygoers. It is promoted as a six-part series following the first year of work on site. Broadcast details given for the launch list a 9pm slot on Tuesday 24 February on Sky One (CH 109), with the channel described as a new home for comedy and entertainment and the series framed alongside other television offerings.
Backstories: acting credits, awards and Dani Dyer’s reality-TV history
The show foregrounds the personalities involved. Danny Dyer is described on-screen as an award-winning actor and presenter who first appeared in 1999 as Moff in Human Traffic and who has since taken roles in Football Factory, Outlaw and The Business; he is most famously associated with EastEnders as Mick Carter. The publicity notes he departed Albert Square in 2022, has won a BAFTA for his performance in the comedy Mr Bigstuff and stars in a screen adaptation of Jilly Cooper's Rivals. Dani is introduced as a Love Island contestant who won the series in 2018; her post-villa credits listed include the Channel 4 documentary Dani Dyer: Is This Anxiety?, appearances on Celebrity MasterChef and Strictly Come Dancing (from which she had to pull out with injury early on), and most recently as joint winner of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. The pair have also appeared together on Celebrity Gogglebox and on Absolutely Dyer: Danny And Dani Do Italy.
Two episodes set a combative tone; reviewer finds the tone at odds with owners' reality
Early coverage of the first two episodes describes a bleak tone that doesn't sit comfortably with Jimi, Alex and the management team, who have too much to lose to treat Dyer's naivety as charming. One critic calls the series a pile of rubbish and contrasts that judgment with a note that Danny has generally been a reliable performer, praised for acting and documentary work, including a recent film about modern masculinity. The review argues the programme's levity and infantile jokes often feel like mucking about while the actual owners look desperately on. Sports-day touches shown in the publicity — prizes such as free Slush Puppies, a week's worth of fry-ups and a beachside date with Danny — underline the show's entertainment ambitions even as practical repairs and demanding punters appear on screen; fixing dodgy plumbing and dealing with customers are presented as part of the learning curve for the Dyers.
