Actor David Neilson has been playing a different side to the beloved Weatherfield cafe owner which has divided fans of the ITV soap
David Neilson playing Roy Cropper in Coronation Street(Image: ITV)
He’s a Weatherfield stalwart who moved to the famous street back in the nineties, but at the moment, it seems Coronation Street fans are a bit scared of Roy Cropper.
The ITV soap’s much-loved cardigan-wearing café owner made his debut on the cobbles back in July 1995, played by actor David Neilson. But prior to joining Corrie, David had a few other TV roles. He actually appeared in the long-running soap’s BBC rival EastEnders way back in 1991.
He made his Walford debut in August of that year, playing the role of Mr Webster who turned up at Nick Cotton’s house intending to buy it. If you were to find his appearance, you’d see the actor adopting a cockney accent and with his dark hair slicked back, worlds away from how fans recognise him now.
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David also made appearances in Young at Heart, Blue Heaven by Frank Skinner, Casualty, and Heartbeat, among others. But before getting into TV, he also had a number of odd jobs – including working as a gas fitter, ice cream salesman, and pulling pints as a barman.
But as mentioned, it was in the summer of 1995 that Corrie viewers were first introduced to Roy. He started out living in the Crimea Street flats alongside fellow tenant Deirdre Barlow. He ended up working at Jim’s Café in Rosamund Street. But after a year, Roy bought Alma Baldwin’s majority share of the business and renamed it Roy’s Rolls, as it still remains today.
Roy was initially a ‘secondary character’, but was given a more prominent role in 1997. The years have since passed by, and in that time, Roy has found himself at the centre of some of the show’s most dramatic and heartbreaking plots, most notably marrying the first transgender character in a British soap opera, Hayley Patterson, played by Julie Hesmondhalgh.
David when he joined Corrie as Roy(Image: Granada Television)
But there was also the time Tracy Barlow claimed she was pregnant with his child, his false imprisonment for the murder of Lauren Bolton and who can forget his devastating farewell to Hayley, who took her own life in Roy’s arms, in January 2014, by drinking a lethal cocktail after living with terminal pancreatic cancer.
As he marked 30 years since his debut last year, David was awarded the Outstanding Achievement award at the 2025 British Soap Awards. But in recent weeks, fans have watched the soap star having to play a very different side of Roy, however, all is not as it seems.
As Corrie fans are aware that Sam Blakeman is suffering from a mental health crisis following his ordeal with Megan Walsh. The teen hasn’t been himself ever since he discovered that Will Driscoll was being groomed by his coach and teacher, Megan. When the pair realised what Sam knew, Megan threatened him into keeping it quiet.
But eventually, Sam ended up in hospital after taking too many tablets not prescribed to him, and usually used for those with ADHD, as he struggled with Megan’s threats and pressures at school, which Megan was also interfering with. While in the hospital, he eventually confessed what he knew to step-mother Leanne Battersby and her sister, Eva Price, who is Will’s stepmother.
The news sent the Driscolls spiralling, but it wasn’t until more recently that Will admitted what really happened with Megan, with the groomer now awaiting a trial after pleading not guilty to the charges against her. It means Sam will likely have to give evidence, and the pressure he has been harbouring about his role in getting justice in the case has only continued to have a detrimental effect on him, with his visual and auditory hallucinations intensifying.
‘Evil Roy’ has been worrying Corrie fans(Image: ITV)
While having hallucinated being goaded by Will in the past, most of Sam’s hallucinations seem to be of Roy. This week, he heard Roy urging him to take control and rid himself of Will once and for all. But when Sam insisted he’s not a violent person, Roy accused him of cowardice and declared their friendship over.
In Friday’s (June 12) episode of Corrie, Sam locks himself in the cafe, having heard Roy warning him that Will is going to kill him and flees. Roy finds Sam in a terrible state, and suddenly, Sam is totally thrown by the fact that he can see two versions of Roy: the real Roy and the vision Roy.
The recent scenes of Roy and his evil twin have got Corrie fans talking on social media, with some quite scared of the new version of the character, while others are impressed by David’s portrayal of his Weatherfield alter-ego that we’ve never seen before.
@swarlacn said: “I know it’s a hallucination but it’s so odd seeing Roy acting like this #Corrie.” @janwilkins59 echoed: “This is so weird seeing the dark side of Roy! #Corrie.” @babyhoneyheslt commented: “I don’t like this evil Roy #corrie.” @HasanHussain777 admitted: “This fake evil side of Roy is actually quite scary #Corrie.”
Sam will realise he’s been hallucinating a second, more evil, Roy(Image: ITV)
Meanwhile, @Izzy1728047 shared: “The scenes with the Roy apparition “telling” Sam what to do, are very interesting, really shows the depths of Sam’s mind right now, the fact that he is struggling immensely. Plus seeing David Neilson take on this very different approach to Roy is intriguing he’s brilliant #Corrie.” @JamiePrestigio1 typed: “#Corrie I know evil Roy is a hallucination but it’s so creepy it’s entertaining Trying to persuade Sam to kill Will/make him think Will will kill him otherwise Implying he put laxatives in Will’s water Has David Nielson ever played a villain before because he does it well.”
@ReasonableHaze remarked: “Loving psycho Roy in #Corrie. I acknowledge that the apparition is a figment of Sam’s skewed imagination but the character still requires portrayal and I think David Neilson warrants an award for his acting. It must be fun for him to make the departure from the normal Roy..” @snationed added: “Corrie is playing an absolute blinder with Sam’s psychosis storyline. Evil Roy is the cherry on top of the cake.”
While we don’t completely know how the story will play out next, what we have seen is that Carla Connor-Swain will recognise the signs of psychosis in Sam, having been through the ordeal herself. Spoilers for next week’s episode of Corrie reveal that Nick Tilsley’s horrified to realise the extent of his son’s suffering.
He ends up lashing out at Ben Driscoll, blaming him for failing to spot Megan’s crimes sooner and therefore causing Sam unnecessary suffering. But at the end of the week, it seems Sam may turn a corner as he tells Nick he’d like to see Roy.