Interview: Coronation Street's David Neilson

Corrie favourites Roy, Hayley and Becky are the stars of a brand new feature-length special, Coronation Street: Romanian Holiday.

The exclusive to DVD release sees Weatherfield oddballs Roy and Hayley set off to Romania to attend a friend's wedding, where they get the shock of their lives when they bump into Becky. Benidorm's Siobhan Finneran and Early Doors' John Henshaw also star.

We caught up with David Neilson, who plays Roy, to find out more...
 
What appealed to you most about Romanian Holiday?
The script made me smile all the way through... if you don’t have a decent script then you’ve had it from the beginning! It’s got all the makings of a good caper: I think there’s something in it for everyone, particularly as there are different strands of humour throughout. To do a one-off like this with a beginning, middle and end is also exciting because you’ve got a piece that is finished, whereas with Coronation Street it goes on and on and on and you’re just doing a bit of it: eventually the story ends for everyone in The Street but the show carries on.  It’s like Old Man River and the thing keeps flowing!

Did you enjoy filming in Romania? 
I love Romania. I’ve been before and I think it’s a wonderful country. The first time was to see the eclipse of the sun ten years ago and this time was to work: Romania always seems to be a by-product of whatever I’m doing but I’ve discovered what a wonderful place it is. It’s peculiar - it’s got an incredible history and it’s very beautiful but it’s also very chaotic: it’s got a danger to it. There’s great poverty, of course, and it’s got a long way to go but I think it’s exciting and vibrant. The locations were really well chosen so we did get to see an awful lot of Romania [through those].

How does Roy cope with the holiday? 
Roy doesn’t like spending money or breaking his routine but then he’s very interested in the history and the walking in the mountains Romania offers. So he is fascinated: he would have read up about everything. As long as the plan goes to plan and nothing unexpected happens, he’ll be alright. But, of course, with it being Coronation Street, something unexpected does happen. And so that destabilises him a bit. He has a moment of experimentation though, so strange things happen in Romania! It almost has a dream-like quality, because when he goes back to The Street he’ll be buttoned up again.

Did Roy’s shopping bag travel to Romania with you?
I carried it with me on the plane, mainly because I was using it last thing before we flew out. It then travelled back with me because I had to use it when I got back... there are some doubles but I use my mother’s original shopping bag. Wardrobe have bought a few and I had been using the new versions but they’re no good. They disintegrate. So I’ve actually gone back to the original bag. That bag went round Loughborough market for many years! My mother died just before I joined the show so I was chucking stuff out and I thought ‘oh well I’ll have that’ because Roy was always going to the shops for Deirdre. And I’m still using her bag. It will be about 30 years old now. I’m not sentimental about it but it is a good bag: I know the feel of it when I pick it up. Wardrobe did take a copy out to Romania though - they are, quite rightly, pretty neurotic about losing it!

Coronation Street: Romanian Holiday is available to buy on DVD now - Watch the trailer below: