Roy Farmer
| Roy Farmer | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family Affairs character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Miles Petit | ||||||||
| Duration | 1997–2003 | ||||||||
| First appearance | 30 March 1997 | ||||||||
| Last appearance | 27 November 2003 | ||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||
| Occupation | Cybercafe Owner | ||||||||
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Royston (Roy) Farmer was a fictional character in the UK soap opera Family Affairs, played by Miles Petit from episode one of the series in March 1997.
Initially a close friend of Duncan Hart, Roy soon fell into the clutches of villain Pete Callan who set him up dealing in drugs. Roy soon became addicted to the drugs he was selling, before kicking the habit and dissolving his association with Pete who he now hated. He later started romancing Duncan's sister Melanie Hart, but was disapproved-of due to his drug-dealing history and former association with the hated Pete. In an attempt to break-up the relationship, Melanie's sister Holly Hart planted drugs in Roy's jacket and informed the police. Roy was charged with drug possession. After being made homeless and living rough he got his life in order again, eventually becoming engaged to Melanie. However tragedy struck hours after their wedding in January 1999 when Melanie and her entire family were killed in a gas explosion that tore through the boat on which the wedding reception was being held. Roy, who had earlier disembarked the boat to get a hangover cure for Jamie Hart, was the only member of the wedding party to have survived the blast.
He became mentally unbalanced after this loss; adopting army dress, shaved his head and later kidnapped and attempted to murder Claire Toomey. He eventually got his life in order again and started a romance with Maria Simons. He later opened an internet cafe business on Stanley Street in Charnham, and started a new romance with Nikki Warrington after her engagement ended. They were later married, and had a child.
Ironically, Roy himself died in a fire whilst trying to rescue Nikki; a fire caused by an arson attack which destroyed his internet cafe business in 2003. At the time he left the series he was the second to last remaining original cast member. At that time he was the only character in the series to have appeared continuously since its debut. The other original character at that time, Claire Toomey (Tina Hall), had taken a long break from the series.