In a headline that feels like it belongs on April Fool’s Day, the BBC has revealed that it’s roped in Danny Dyer to front a new history show on BBC One.

The ‘EastEnders’ actor has been given a mandate to “inject fun” into the network’s factual programming, and will front BBC One’s ‘Danny Dyer’s Right Royal Family’ next year. The corporation is attempting to combat the rise of “event television” and muscle in alongside streaming rivals like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Dyer, whose daughter Dani won the 2018 edition of ‘Love Island’ this summer, discovered a few years ago he has blood ties to William the Conqueror and Edward III, as well as Thomas Cromwell, after delving into his ancestry on BBC history series ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’

Danny DyerDanny Dyer is to front a new history show for the BBC

In the new show, the 41 year old actor will explore 800 years of British history by living in the style of some of his ancestors. For instance, he’ll be seen eating sheep’s tongue, as the Vikings did, dressing up in a ruff for an Elizabethan banquet, and learning how to hunt like William the Conqueror.

“I’m still in shock at the fact that I’m related to such important people,” he said in a statement regarding the new show. “I’ve had a ball getting to know them. It was a nutty experience.”

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The BBC’s history commissioner, Simon Young, said: “Danny is just an incredible talent and he has an amazing history in his family tree; what better way to get people to look at and understand that royal history than through his eyes. It injects fun and I think we need that.”

Dyer has managed to fit the filming commitments in around his role in BBC’s long-running soap ‘EastEnders’ as pub landlord Mick Carter, the part for which he has won multiple prizes at the National Television Awards.

However, it was recently announced that he’ll be taking a break from the role in 2019 in order to take to the stage. Dyer is set to star in two plays, ‘Freeman in The Dumb Waiter’ and ‘A Slight Ache’, as part of a season celebrating playwright Harold Pinter.

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