Celebrating 20 years of Roy Cropper

Today, July 19th is the 20th anniversary of the first appearance of Roy Cropper on Coronation Street.

Roy first appeared as one of the residents in Crimea Street flats where Deirdre Rachid was working as caretaker. Mike Baldwin owned the flats and gave Deirdre a job and a flat there after she returned from Morocco when Samir died.  You can watch the episode here. Roy comes in just after the 5 minute mark.

Roy's first scene on Coronation Street, July 19 1995

Deirdre was the first person to meet Roy and she thought him a little odd. Well, we all did back then.  But it was Roy who saved Deirdre. Depressed after the death of husband Samir, she locked herself away in her Crimea Street flat. It was Roy who noticed she hadn't taken the milk in and wasn't answering her door, and he alerted Mike Baldwin that he thought something was wrong with Deirdre.  In return, many years later, it was Deirdre who found Roy sleepwalking on the Red Rec and she helped him then.

And now, twenty years later, Roy Cropper has become something of a national treasure. David Neilson's peformance has turned Roy into one of the best-loved characters that Corrie has ever had. 

David Neilson with Corrie Blogger, Martin Leay
(Photo by David Doig)

Our blogger Martin met and interviewed David Neilson and wrote some fantastic blog posts. The interview is split into three parts - Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3

See also: A Perfect Duet - the diary of Roy and Hayley Cropper.

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