Roy Cropper: A beacon in the Corrie gloom

(This post was originally posted by Graeme N on the Coronation Street Blog in June 2014.)

Amidst all the current Corrie doom and gloom, murder and mayhem, stands a beacon. Ok, a beacon in an anorak carrying a shopper, but a beacon nonetheless. Roy Cropper is my hero.

Coronation Street has been very dark of late. Killing off a major character will do that I guess. While all the big drama has been handled well on the whole, the scenes between David Neilson and Alison King last night stood out from all the rest. The quiet, dignified way Roy dealt with the increasingly wretched, wasted Peter Barlow was a joy to behold. Roy for me is now the moral centre of Corrie and one of the main reasons I keep watching.

Many worried what would happen to our Royston following Hayley's tragic demise in January. If the writers continue to produce touching, realistic scenes between Roy, Carla and Anna Windass then we needn't worry. Hayley's departure, sad though it undoubtedly was, has opened up new avenues for the character of Roy to explore. He now has a previously unimagined bond with Anna and Carla and I hope this is developed further in the months ahead. I would even venture that he is now closer to these two very different women than he is to Fiz, who's selfish histrionics after Hayley's death put her down a few notches in my estimation.

The scene in the Barlow's flat last night was wonderful, if brief. Roy was reaching out and offering his support to Carla, stumbling about in the dark with his attempts to comfort a woman other than his Hayley. Carla too didn't really know how to react but she muddled through the best she could, obviously touched by Roy's attempts. The hand she placed briefly on his shoulder as she left the room spoke volumes. 

I hope Roy continues to offer support and calm advice in the face of the spiralling explosive drama that is our favourite soap. I love his eccentricities and I hope we don't lose those, however he is increasingly becoming the everyman - the viewers' representative onscreen, quietly serving up cups of tea and bacon barms while other characters cheat, deceive and plunge to their doom. 

Hopefully Roy will never be one of them.


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