ITV Coronation Street star reveals murder plot shock should shine light on social media bullies

He is the kind-hearted oddball of Coronation Street but Roy Cropper is about to be falsely accused of murder. And actor David Neilson hopes the shocking storyline helps to shine a light on the bullies of social media.

David, 74, compared today’s keyboard warriors to the “old-fashioned lynch mob in the village”. In the soap, 18-year-old Lauren, played by Cait Fitton, has disappeared and Roy, who has taken in waifs and strays for years, falls under suspicion.

The storyline has echoes of Roy’s arrival on the cobbles in 1995. He was branded “Creepy Cropper” as locals realised he was stalking Deirdre Barlow, played by the late Anne Kirkbride. But viewers and characters alike soon realised Roy’s heart was in the right place.

David says he has enjoyed being taken back to the early days of his character by the plot. “It is reminiscent of that early Roy Cropper when people were suspicious of his,” he says. “And this will be used against him.”

It took a while for Roy to become the much-loved character he is today. David recalls: “When I first came into the show, I heard a couple chatting and one said: ‘There’s that weirdo from Coronation Street,’ and I thought ‘wow’.

“Then, over time, he sort of evolved. I think what people love is his struggle with life and this is part of his struggle. He’s on the ropes with this one. But he hasn’t got any choice, it has happened again.”

In the ITV soap, word of Roy’s possible involvement in Lauren’s disappearance soon spreads on the internet. David reveals he is just like Roy when it comes to being baffled by social media. “I’m playing this like it is a sort of insanity that’s going on and I’m playing against something that I don’t understand, let alone Roy,” he explains. “Like him, and a lot of my generation, I have nothing to do with social media. So in a way it is quite fascinating to see what is happening to him.“

In the coming episodes, Roy can’t understand how more and more people he has never met, and know nothing about him, are convinced he is responsible for Lauren’s disappearance or, worse still, her demise.

He says: “What seems to be evolving is this kind of invisible mob. That’s the way that wonderful technology can be used by human beings for all sorts of suspect reasons. It’s dangerous, and it is in the real world. You know, there are kids taking their own lives because of these bullies, awful people and awful stupidity.

“It is the online version of mob mentality. Like the old-fashioned lynch mob in the village going around to someone’s house setting it on fire, but they are nameless and faceless. It is a fictional story but it does relate to things that are happening.”

Over the decades, Roy has cemented his place in the hearts of the fans – particularly when his screen wife, Hayley, died in emotional scenes in 2014. But unlike his character, David keeps himself to himself.

Last year, it emerged he and wife Jane – who have one son, Daniel – had been quietly living in Spain for the past 20 years. “They don’t know Roy in Barcelona,” he explains. “If I’m in Spain for a few days, I forget what I do for a living. And it’s only a couple of hours on the plane so I can commute to Manchester easily.”

Jane, a special needs teacher, suggested Roy may have Asperger’s syndrome, and David agrees. Roy’s trusting nature plays a part in the new plotline. “He’s not sussed about how you deal with the police or how things could be misinterpreted,” he says. “He continues to do what he thinks is the right thing, he can’t do any other. If he could, he would. That’s what everyone around him is telling him to do, to be more what other people would consider ‘normal’.”

David recognises Roy’s mannerisms are unusual. He adds: “It definitely started with Hayley and her desire to help people. Those foibles are what this mob are able to latch on to.”

One thing is for sure, the soap’s fans will all be rooting for Roy. “It’s a compliment but at the same time a responsibility,” David says.