[1] In 2013, Dyer joined the cast of the BBC soap opera EastEnders, in the role of Mick Carter, and remained in the series until 2022.

[12] In response, geneticist Adam Rutherford argued that an English person being descended from a Plantagenet king was "not remarkable", musing that "almost every Briton" can claim such descent.

[15] Dyer was discovered at a local school by an agent who auditioned him for the part of Martin Fletcher in the Granada Television series Prime Suspect 3 (1993), beginning his acting career at 16.

[16] His many other television roles include appearances in the 2003 Channel 4 drama Second Generation, directed by John Sen;[16] as Malcolm, main character Michelle's stepfather, in Skins;[17] as a football player in the second series of Hotel Babylon; and as Matt Costello in what was supposed to be the pilot episode for Breathless,[16][18] a BBC two-part television series in development from BBC Northern Ireland, renamed first Blood Rush and then Kiss of Death, when it premiered on BBC One as a one-part drama on 26 May 2008.

On 1 October 2013, the BBC announced that Dyer had been cast in EastEnders from Christmas 2013, as Mick Carter, the new landlord of The Queen Victoria pub.

[22] After he began appearing as Mick, Dyer revealed that he had been offered and had turned down the part of Carl White, who was eventually played by Daniel Coonan.

[32] His subsequent movie work includes Mel Smith's High Heels and Low Lifes (2001) and starring roles in Borstal Boy (2000), Mean Machine (2002) and in four films by the British film director Nick Love: Goodbye Charlie Bright (2001); The Football Factory (2004); The Business (2005); and Outlaw (2007).

[32] Among other film roles, he also appeared as the character Steve in Christopher Smith's Severance (2006); as Hayden in Adulthood (2008); and as himself in the feature documentary Tattoos: A Scarred History.

Later that year, Dyer completed filming on Jack Said, a Brit noir thriller in which he played Nathan alongside Ashlie Walker, Terry Stone, David O'Hara and Simon Phillips, which was released in November 2009.

[36] In June 2010, he was cast for the lead role in the remake of the British horror film The Asphyx,[37] but it failed to secure production finance and was indefinitely shelved.

[39] Dyer has performed on stage, most notably in two plays written and directed by 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter: as the Waiter in the London première of Celebration (2000), at the Almeida Theatre, which transferred to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, in New York, as part of the Harold Pinter Festival held there in July and August 2001;[40] and as Foster in the revival of No Man's Land (1975), at the Royal National Theatre, in London, during 2001 and 2002.

[41][42] In March 2008, he played Joey in a revival of Pinter's The Homecoming (1964), directed by Michael Attenborough, at the Almeida Theatre, in London.

[50] In 2010, in his capacity as a celebrity agony uncle, Dyer wrote in Zoo that a young male reader could get over his recent breakup with a woman by "going on a rampage with the boys" or to "cut your ex's face, and then no one will want her".

The comment was widely criticised by the media and the public, including the chief executive of the Fawcett Society, Ceri Goddard.

[52] Kermode had mocked and impersonated Dyer on a recent edition of his BBC Radio 5 Live show with Simon Mayo.

[55] He began dating Joanne Mas in 1992 but they separated after the birth of their first daughter, future television personality Dani Dyer, in 1996.

In his autobiography, he stated, "I've always taken drugs and I probably always will, but there's a difference between having the odd crafty bump up the snout as a reward for a job well done and letting it rule your life.

In December 2007, he became the chairman of Kent League side Greenwich Borough after appointed by club president, fellow actor Tamer Hassan.