Willy Roper
Encyclopedia
Willy Roper is a fictional character
from the BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
, played by Michael Tudor-Barnes from June 1995 to June 1996.
Villainous Willy was dubbed "Wicked Willy" by the British
press after he framed
Arthur Fowler
for embezzlement
, leading to his wrongful imprisonment
. The truth was eventually uncovered by Arthur's wife Pauline
, though it was too late for Arthur — he died shortly after his release due to a head injury he sustained in a prison riot.
near to Arthur Fowler's in Walford
. Willy was also an allotment owner, and he was instrumental in getting Arthur elected as the secretary of the allotment committee. Arthur began raising money to create a new eco-friendly, urban garden, which was named the Flowering Wilderness Fund. Willy took a keen interest in all of his financial dealings. By the end of the year Arthur had managed to raise £
20,000 for the garden, and this was enough to tempt Willy to crime.
Willy was the sole carer of his senile
mother. Desperate to get the funds to pay for her placement at a nursing home, he decided to con Arthur into signing the fund money into various accounts, and then left him to face the consequences when the money was declared missing. For a second time, Arthur was faced with a police investigation and with all the evidence stacked against him, he was soon arrested and ended the year in prison. This was too much for Arthur, who was unable to face the prospect of serving a prison sentence for a crime he didn't commit. Upon his incarceration he suffered a mental breakdown and refused any contact with Pauline, which devastated her.
Not content with putting Arthur in prison, Willy spent the beginning of 1996 trying to woo Pauline in his absence. Her son Mark
was furious at the amount of time Willy and Pauline spent together, but Pauline found Willy to be a great comfort and refused to stop seeing him socially. Following his mother's death in April 1996, Willy asked Pauline to go on holiday to Jersey
. Mark correctly figured out that his real motive was to put the stolen money in an off-shore account under a false name, but Pauline refused to believe Mark's accusations. While away, Pauline and Willy became very close, but this all changed when she discovered his counterfeit
credit cards and her suspicions began to raise. She didn't inform Willy of her discovery, but immediately returned to Walford the following day after he confessed his undying love for her.
Back in Walford, a furious Pauline was then persuaded by Mark to extract a confession from Willy. She lured him over under the pretence that she wanted to rekindle their friendship. On their night alone Pauline plied Willy with alcohol and seduced the truth from him. Willy — momentarily believing that his criminal genius would impress Pauline — confessed to embezzlement
and told her how he had managed to frame
Arthur. The police were informed and Willy was arrested and charged, though he was later released on bail
.
Arthur was cleared, but before Pauline could pass on the good news she was told that he had been involved in a prison riot. Arthur was released the next day, but he had received a nasty blow to the head in the riot, although no one realised the seriousness of his injury until it was too late. Only a few days after his release in May 1996, Arthur suffered a brain haemorrhage on the allotments, and died the next day in hospital. Arthur's funeral was held in June 1996 and Mark was incensed to see Willy in attendance. He confronted Willy and ended up assaulting him.
The storyline began innocently, with Willy coaxing Arthur to become the chair of the allotment committee, which later involved fund raising for a new urban garden, which was known as the "Flowering Wilderness Fund." In order to raise money to put his senile mother in a home, Willy conned Arthur into signing the money into various accounts and then set him up to take the blame, leading to his imprisonment.
The storyline captured the public's imagination and a nationwide "Free Arthur Fowler" campaign was launched — "Arthur Fowler Is Innocent" T-shirts were produced and a single was even released in the UK singles chart
promoting the campaign. However, Arthur's imprisonment was actually a precursor to the final exit of actor Bill Treacher
, who decided to leave EastEnders after 11 years playing Arthur. While Arthur went to pieces in prison, Pauline was heavily embroiled in the storyline pertaining to his eventual release. For several months viewers witnessed Willy attempt to woo Pauline, but she eventually uncovered his deception and then resorted to uncharacteristic seduction
to gain his confession.
The character left the show in disgrace in June 1996 after his crimes were exposed. In an interview Tudor Barnes has commented "I was most fortunate in having Bill Treacher as a colleague. Nobody could have been more welcoming and helpful than Bill. He was totally professional and unfailingly cheerful, no matter how tough the going got. A fine actor and a fine gentleman. Even though I was the instrument of his departure, I was very sorry to see him go."
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, played by Michael Tudor-Barnes from June 1995 to June 1996.
Villainous Willy was dubbed "Wicked Willy" by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
press after he framed
Frameup
A frame-up or setup is an American term referring to the act of framing someone, that is, providing false evidence or false testimony in order to falsely prove someone guilty of a crime....
Arthur Fowler
Arthur Fowler
Arthur George Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Bill Treacher.The father of the Fowler family, Arthur was essentially a good man, but he made some foolish choices and he always ended up paying dearly for them, also being bossed to the brink of insanity by...
for embezzlement
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
, leading to his wrongful imprisonment
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
. The truth was eventually uncovered by Arthur's wife Pauline
Pauline Fowler
Pauline Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, a long-running serial drama about working class life in the fictional London borough of Walford. She was played by actress Wendy Richard between 1985 and 2006. Pauline was created by scriptwriter Tony Holland and producer...
, though it was too late for Arthur — he died shortly after his release due to a head injury he sustained in a prison riot.
Storylines
Willy was first seen in June 1995 at the funeral of Tom Palmer, who had an allotmentAllotment (gardening)
An allotment garden, often called simply an allotment, is a plot of land made available for individual, non-professional gardening. Such plots are formed by subdividing a piece of land into a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families...
near to Arthur Fowler's in Walford
Walford
Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The name Walford is both a street in Dalston where one of the series' creators, Tony Holland, lived and a blend of Walthamstow, where Holland was born, and Stratford. The suffix 'ford' is also found throughout East...
. Willy was also an allotment owner, and he was instrumental in getting Arthur elected as the secretary of the allotment committee. Arthur began raising money to create a new eco-friendly, urban garden, which was named the Flowering Wilderness Fund. Willy took a keen interest in all of his financial dealings. By the end of the year Arthur had managed to raise £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
20,000 for the garden, and this was enough to tempt Willy to crime.
Willy was the sole carer of his senile
Dementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
mother. Desperate to get the funds to pay for her placement at a nursing home, he decided to con Arthur into signing the fund money into various accounts, and then left him to face the consequences when the money was declared missing. For a second time, Arthur was faced with a police investigation and with all the evidence stacked against him, he was soon arrested and ended the year in prison. This was too much for Arthur, who was unable to face the prospect of serving a prison sentence for a crime he didn't commit. Upon his incarceration he suffered a mental breakdown and refused any contact with Pauline, which devastated her.
Not content with putting Arthur in prison, Willy spent the beginning of 1996 trying to woo Pauline in his absence. Her son Mark
Mark Fowler
Mark Albert Fowler is a fictional character from the popular British BBC soap opera EastEnders. Mark was an original regular character in the series starting February 1985 but became a semi-regular after his original portrayer David Scarboro was written out of the role in April 1985. Scarboro made...
was furious at the amount of time Willy and Pauline spent together, but Pauline found Willy to be a great comfort and refused to stop seeing him socially. Following his mother's death in April 1996, Willy asked Pauline to go on holiday to Jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
. Mark correctly figured out that his real motive was to put the stolen money in an off-shore account under a false name, but Pauline refused to believe Mark's accusations. While away, Pauline and Willy became very close, but this all changed when she discovered his counterfeit
Counterfeit
To counterfeit means to illegally imitate something. Counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated product...
credit cards and her suspicions began to raise. She didn't inform Willy of her discovery, but immediately returned to Walford the following day after he confessed his undying love for her.
Back in Walford, a furious Pauline was then persuaded by Mark to extract a confession from Willy. She lured him over under the pretence that she wanted to rekindle their friendship. On their night alone Pauline plied Willy with alcohol and seduced the truth from him. Willy — momentarily believing that his criminal genius would impress Pauline — confessed to embezzlement
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
and told her how he had managed to frame
Frameup
A frame-up or setup is an American term referring to the act of framing someone, that is, providing false evidence or false testimony in order to falsely prove someone guilty of a crime....
Arthur. The police were informed and Willy was arrested and charged, though he was later released on bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
.
Arthur was cleared, but before Pauline could pass on the good news she was told that he had been involved in a prison riot. Arthur was released the next day, but he had received a nasty blow to the head in the riot, although no one realised the seriousness of his injury until it was too late. Only a few days after his release in May 1996, Arthur suffered a brain haemorrhage on the allotments, and died the next day in hospital. Arthur's funeral was held in June 1996 and Mark was incensed to see Willy in attendance. He confronted Willy and ended up assaulting him.
Character creation and development
Introduced in June 1995, Willy played a key part in the long-running storyline that eventually led to the exit of one of EastEnders original characters, Arthur Fowler. The actor Michael Tudor Barnes was cast in the role for a six month period, which was extended for a further six months as the storyline developed. The character was brought in for the specific purpose of engineering Arthur's departure.The storyline began innocently, with Willy coaxing Arthur to become the chair of the allotment committee, which later involved fund raising for a new urban garden, which was known as the "Flowering Wilderness Fund." In order to raise money to put his senile mother in a home, Willy conned Arthur into signing the money into various accounts and then set him up to take the blame, leading to his imprisonment.
The storyline captured the public's imagination and a nationwide "Free Arthur Fowler" campaign was launched — "Arthur Fowler Is Innocent" T-shirts were produced and a single was even released in the UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
promoting the campaign. However, Arthur's imprisonment was actually a precursor to the final exit of actor Bill Treacher
Bill Treacher
Bill Treacher is an English actor. Most famous for playing Arthur Fowler on the BBC soap opera EastEnders, for 11 years, from 1985-1996.-Early life:Treacher grew up in the East End of London...
, who decided to leave EastEnders after 11 years playing Arthur. While Arthur went to pieces in prison, Pauline was heavily embroiled in the storyline pertaining to his eventual release. For several months viewers witnessed Willy attempt to woo Pauline, but she eventually uncovered his deception and then resorted to uncharacteristic seduction
Seduction
In social science, seduction is the process of deliberately enticing a person to engage. The word seduction stems from Latin and means literally "to lead astray". As a result, the term may have a positive or negative connotation...
to gain his confession.
The character left the show in disgrace in June 1996 after his crimes were exposed. In an interview Tudor Barnes has commented "I was most fortunate in having Bill Treacher as a colleague. Nobody could have been more welcoming and helpful than Bill. He was totally professional and unfailingly cheerful, no matter how tough the going got. A fine actor and a fine gentleman. Even though I was the instrument of his departure, I was very sorry to see him go."