David Neilson doesn’t see ‘Coronation Street’ as "work" because he has so much "fun" on the ITV soap.
The 71-year-old actor has been playing Roy Cropper on the cobbles since 1995, and while his character – who was married to late wife Hayley Cropper (Julie Hesmondhalgh) – no longer has a long-term partner, David is delighted to be working closely with Maureen Lipman and Mollie Gallagher, who play respective characters Evelyn and Nina.
He said: "Because he is actually alone, they hook him up with other people, so now he is having a very nice relationship with Evelyn which is such a joy.
"And we have Nina in the café now, so all the way through I’ve been very lucky with the people I have worked with – it’s not really work, it’s fun."
David also joked Roy is in fact ahead of his time because the character owned a bag for life "before anyone else" and has "always been social distancing".
Speaking on ‘This Morning’, he added: "Because he was such a stalker and a bit dodgy he couldn’t then become just ordinary, he always had that strangeness to him – individuality not strangeness.
"As far as I see the world, most people are like Roy. He was just ahead of his time.
"He had a bag for life before anyone else and he has always been social distancing!"
One of David’s main recent storylines saw Roy discover he had a long-lost brother Richard Lucas (Paul Brown), and the character agreed to take on responsibility for his niece Nina upon discovering his sibling was seriously ill.
Asked in November last year if he was pleased when he heard about the plot development, David said: "Yes – I am enjoying this storyline, Roy works well when he has something to focus on, a problem to solve or someone to look out for, particularly someone who others may see as a bit different.
"Roy can identify with that as he has been an outsider himself. It is interesting and it puts him on his mettle. They are different generations and worlds apart but there is a connection between them.
"Mollie is lovely and a great actress, she is thrilled to be here and she is throwing her all into this character."