The Dyers’ Caravan Park review – danny dyer: Danny Dyer’s haphazard attempt to run a caravan park is pure entertainment
danny dyer and his daughter Dani arrive at a run-down holiday park promising to revive "the great British holiday, " but the six-part series quickly exposes missed commitments, fraught meetings and the scale of the task at Priory Hill and Nutts Farm.
Series setup and promises
The premise is simple: Danny has "romanticised going down to Canvey Island with my nan and grandad and cousins. It was a real family thing in the 80s, " and he has invested in the family-run Priory Hill (paired in other material with Nutts Farm) in Leysdown-on-sea on the Isle of Sheppey and in Leysdown, Kent, with the aim of reinvigorating the park, the industry and bringing back "the great British holiday. " The programme is framed as a six-part series that will follow him and his daughter Dani through their first year at the park.
Missed opening and reaction
The series begins badly: Danny misses the opening of the season 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 — site directors Paul and Darren and site manager Mark — together with park residents, had expected the new celebrity investor and figurehead to turn up. Jimi stands in the February rain amid chalets and vans and says, "Lot of disappointed people, to be honest. " Danny makes a half-hearted apology and calls a hastily arranged meeting with residents, but Jimi, Paul, Darren and Mark sit stony-faced in the front row while residents respond with sharp criticism.
Priory Hill and Nutts Farm
The park is presented as a beloved family operation under strain: Alex cries when she talks about her father, how much he loved the park he set up, the people in it and the success he made of it in the heyday of the industry. That sentiment is set against what one contributor calls a post-Covid hellscape in which 38 pitches are lying empty and losin — unclear in the provided context. The existing community and residents are key to the story; Danny spent many happy holidays in caravan parks in his youth, surrounded by extended family and quickly made friends, enjoying "a sense of community that is severely lacking in today’s world. "
Costs and site issues
Practical problems quickly surface. Suggestions from residents turn into vitriolic criticism of the current regime, and Danny promises more or less everything in an optimistic rush. Jimi and the team later explain some realities: the "broken" night lights were removed after complaints about teenagers gathering beneath them; the suggested indoor pool to complement an existing outdoor pool would cost an "unfindable minimum of £250, 000"; and while a football pitch or adventure playground has long been seen as desirable, no one actually wants such facilities immediately outside their chalet or van. Those constraints underscore the gulf between celebrity ideas and on-the-ground feasibility.
Danny Dyer and Dani's role
Danny puts his "money, reputation and sanity on the line" to modernise Priory Hill & Nutts Farm and inspire a new generation of holidaygoers. He brings his daughter Dani on board to help return the struggling seaside park to its former glory. The pair quickly learn that running a holiday park is worlds away from celebrity life: tasks range from fixing dodgy plumbing to dealing with demanding punters. The material makes plain that Jimi and his team have too much to lose to find Danny's naivety charming; early episodes lean bleak rather than buoyant, and two episodes were available for review at the time of commentary.
Cast background and past shows
The show leans on the Dyers’ profiles. Danny is described in promotional material as an award-winning actor and presenter who first appeared on screen in 1999 as Moff in Human Traffic and who has taken roles in Football Factory, Outlaw and The Business, and who played Mick Carter in EastEnders. Since departing Albert Square in 2022 he has won a BAFTA for Mr Bigstuff and stars in a screen adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s Rivals. Dani rose to fame as a Love Island contestant, winning the series in 2018, and her post-villa credits 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 being joint winner of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. The father-and-daughter duo have appeared together before on Celebrity Gogglebox and in the travel series Absolutely Dyer: Danny And Dani Do Italy. Promotional copy also teases lighter elements such as sports day prizes including free Slush Puppies, a week’s worth of fry-ups and a beachside date with Danny.
The Dyers’ Caravan Park thus presents both nostalgia and friction: a star investor with personal memories of caravan holidays, and a small family business fighting to survive amid empty pitches, financial limits and local resentment. Early episodes dwell on that mismatch rather than delivering a tidy renovation narrative.
