Derek Etchells played five similar but different roles on Coronation Street:
- A policeman in the Lake District in October 1969
- A policeman in April 1971
- P.C. 243 in March and June 1973
- PC Thompson in August of the same year
- P.C. Smith in February 1974.
He also appeared in City '68, The Dustbinmen, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Last of the Summer Wine, Kim & Co. and The Liver Birds.
On stage, he appeared in a production of My Fair Lady at the Bristol Hippodrome.