In May 1963 he issued a single with Tony Hatch on the Pye label, inspired by Mike Sarne, titled "Hands Off, Stop Mucking About" b/w "Why Am I So Shy".

In Carry On Matron (1972) he took the more sympathetic role of Cyril Carter, the son of a thief who is forced to impersonate a female nurse as part of his father's attempt to rob a maternity hospital.

In an episode of the first series of The Adventures of Black Beauty, "Sailor on a Horse" (1972), he played Henry Thackery, a missing heir from Canada, returning from sea, just in time to save the land and Beauty's paddock next to the Gordon family, which greedy, contentious lawyer Weems tries to sell by fraud, palming one of his clerks off as being the true heir.

Cope featured in three episodes of Minder playing different characters: newly released prisoner Albert Stubbs in "Bury My Half at Waltham Green"; 'Scooter' in "Waiting for Goddard"; and police informer Phelan in "Bring Me the Head of Arthur Daley".

He later appeared in the Doctor Who story Warriors' Gate (in 1981), and guest-starred in two episodes of Casualty, as well as taking roles in Juliet Bravo,The Bill, Waking the Dead, A Touch of Frost and Kavanagh QC.

[citation needed] In 1997 Cope played dodgy ex-copper Charlie Fairclough alongside David Jason in an episode of A Touch of Frost titled "True Confessions".

[citation needed] Cope was offered a cameo role in the 2000–2001 revival of Randall and Hopkirk starring Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, but turned it down.

In 2008 Cope's Coronation Street character Jed Stone returned to the ITV soap after 42 years' absence, appearing as part of a storyline involving property developer Tony Gordon.

[9] In January 2014, Cope appeared as a character witness during the trial of former Coronation Street colleague William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow in the series.