Oh,BROTHER!

RYAN SAMPSON and DANNY DYER on playing chalk-and-cheese siblings whose worlds collide

-  TESS LAMACRAFT

MR BIGSTUFF

WEDNESDAY, 9PM & 9.30PM, SKY MAX & SKY SHOWCASE COMEDY (BOX SET, SKY BOX SETS/NOW)

They say blood is thicker than water. But when two estranged brothers find themselves living under the same roof in an Essex cul-de-sac, it proves a recipe for capers, chaos and, er, carpet sales in Sky Max's much-anticipated new series Mr Bigstuff! The six-parter sees EastEnders favourite Danny Dyer take on his first leading role in a TV comedy as he plays alpha-male anarchistic Lee, while Brassic and Plebs star Ryan Sampson portrays Lee's perfectionist sibling, carpet salesman Glen.

TV Times caught up with Ryan, 38, who created and wrote the show, and Danny, 46, to find out more...

You first worked together in 2013 when Danny gueststarred in ITV2’s Ancient Rome sitcom Plebs. Ryan, did you always have Danny in mind to play Lee?

RYAN Yes! I wrote the part for Danny and then showed the script to a producer, who said, ‘You realise this is written exclusively for Danny Dyer, who is locked into [BBC1 soap] EastEnders and unable to do any other roles?’ I hadn’t even taken that into account.

I went out that night with mates to commiserate the fact I’d wasted my time, and the next morning I saw the tabloid headlines, ‘Dyer quits Enders!’ It was like a sign!

DANNY We were obviously in sync.

And, Danny, what appealed to you about this project?