Eastenders' hardman Dany Dyer on how TV crew pranked him with snake fears while filming new Australia drama

After his successful run on EastEnders, Danny Dyer faced the challenge of following up on his iconic role as landlord of the Queen Vic.

Now, fans can look forward to seeing Dyer on Channel 5's upcoming drama, "Heat," which sees the actor traveling down under to portray Steve, a British expat living in Australia with his family. Set against a backdrop of raging bushfires and simmering emotions, Dyer believes this project showcases some of his finest work to date.

Speaking about his Australian filming experience, Dyer has now shared on how he and other actors had to deal with the presence of snakes on set. Dyer shared his apprehension, saying: "Yeah, that was a big one [challenge]. Snakes. I don’t do snakes… On set, they had this poor bloke, bless him, he’s a snake expert, and he used to do this weird thing, right - when it rained, that’s when the snakes come out, right. So as soon as it started raining, he would go, ‘Snakes!’… He knows you’re a bit nervous about snakes, so he would start giving it some: ‘We’ve got a snake here!’"

Despite being initially wary, Dyer trusted the expertise of the crew, although he suspects they may have enjoyed playing up the snake threat to unsettle him. He said: "I was s***ing myself sometimes, but they loved it. They loved playing the prank on me."

Being far away from his family was the biggest challenge for Dyer. He said: "Being away from my family, I think. I think I didn’t realise how much I was gonna miss them. And I did have some moments out there where I was quite lonely."

The new Channel 5 drama seees Brit expat Steve, played by Dyer, and his long-time friend Brad moved to Australia, where they met their wives. The story unfolds during their summer holiday at Brad's new dream home