Roy of the Rovers the Rovers go on tour to a fictional country in an exotic part of the world, normally South America, where they would invariably be kidnapped and held to ransom. "Melchester played more pre-season games at gunpoint deep in the jungle than they ever did in more mundane settings." The summer would often also see Roy fending off lucrative offers to leave Melchester, as in 1978, when the Sheik of Basran, an oil-rich Middle-Eastern state, offered him £1 million to coach the national team. Especially during the 1980s, real-life personalities often made appearances. Former Division One stars Bob Wilson and Emlyn
Roy of the Rovers Jr. (later known as Rocky), Melinda, and Diana. Penny left Roy in the early 1980s, in a high-profile storyline that was covered on national television news. The following year Roy was shot in his office by a mystery gunman, in an incident clearly mirroring the shooting of J. R. Ewing in the hit television series "Dallas" the previous year. Roy lay in a coma for several weeks. The culprit was eventually revealed to be Elton Blake, an actor who had been cast as Roy in a television series about the Rovers, but who blamed him for his dismissal. In early