[1] Copley was the male lead character in the four-part BBC series Days of Hope in 1975, which depicted events between the First World War and the General Strike from a family involved in socialist politics.

[2] In 1976, Copley won the Laurence Olivier Award for Actor of the Year in a New Play for his role in John Wilson's For King and Country.

[3] After appearing as Private Wicks in the film A Bridge Too Far (1977), he played a small but noticeable role in Zulu Dawn (1979) as Cpl Storey in the British Army.

He narrated the Channel 4 programme How Clean Is Your House?, and featured in the ITV children's hit show Best Friends in 2005–2006, playing the grandfather.

In 2017, Copley appeared in Jimmy McGovern's acclaimed series Broken, Red Production Company's Trust Me, and in episode 5 of Doc Martin he played the eccentric Walter O'Donnell.

In 2018, he played the role of Charlie Rainbird in the short film Thousand Yesterdays, currently in post production, and continues to voice Morrisons advertisements on radio and television in the UK.

[4] He married actress Natasha Pyne in 1972, after performing with her in a Leeds Playhouse production of Frank Wedekind's Lulu, adapted by Peter Barnes and directed by Bill Hays in 1971.