Former EastEnders star Danny Dyer is reuniting with an ex co-star on a new show, and said he would’ve wanted “more scenes” with her on the soap.

Dyer, who went on to star in acclaimed series Rivals since leaving the Square, is now the star of Mr Bigstuff. The new comedy stars the actor and creator Ryan Sampson as polar-opposite brothers Lee and Glen, respectively, with a few familiar faces joining the cast for season 2.

In the upcoming season, premiering on Sky Max and NOW this Thursday (24 July), Dyer stars alongside EastEnders‘ Linda Henry, who played his character Mick Carter’s mum Shirley. Henry is set to portray a mechanic named Pam.

“I love Linda,” Dyer told the Mirror about the reunion, while also sharing one regret about his own EastEnders stint.

“I wanted more scenes with her,” he explained.

Henry joined the BBC soap as Shirley in 2006, having previously appeared on the show as Lorraine Salter between 1991 and 1992.

Dyer was then cast as Shirley’s son, Mick, in 2013 – although Dyer’s character initially believed that Shirley was his older sister.

He appeared as a series regular until Christmas Day of 2022, when Mick seemingly drowned after a dramatic car chase involving Janine Butcher and his ex-wife Linda Carter. Shirley left Walford shortly afterwards.

While Henry is not returning to EastEnders, despite her exit initially being described as an extended break, Dyer revealed that he didn’t get the call for the soap’s big 40th anniversary earlier this year.

“I do have a lot of people asking me about whether I’m going back, and I’ll be honest, I would have gone back [for the soap’s 40th anniversary in February] if they’d have asked me, but they didn’t ask me,” he said on The Late Late Show in March.

“I think they’ve got the hump with me now, I don’t know why!”

In early 2023, Dyer suggested that Mick “could turn up in three years, smothered in seaweed”, but said he wasn’t enthusiastic about where EastEnders had taken his character.

“I felt my character had lost his way,” Dyer continued. “I didn’t quite know who I was playing anymore, it was a really odd thing.”