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Coronation Street, the world's longest-running TV soap opera, is known for its strong female characters. It's no surprise, then, that the show affectionately known as "Corrie" has helped to launch the careers of some top-notch British actresses. Here are eight familiar faces who once trod Corrie's iconic cobblestones and enjoyed a drink or two in its famous pub, the Rovers Return.

1. Sarah Lancashire

Long before her BAFTA-winning role in AMC's Happy Valley, Lancashire got her big break on Corrie. For around five years, she played Raquel Watts, a Rovers Return barmaid who was way more sophisticated than people initially thought. By the end, Raquel was so well-loved by viewers that a massive audience of 20 million tuned in for her final episode in 1996.

2. Suranne Jones

You probably know Jones as the star of Doctor Foster, Gentleman Jack, and Vigil. But from 2000 to 2004, she trod the Coronation Street cobbles as Karen McDonald, an ambitious factory worker with a somewhat chaotic love life. Karen was originally given a six-month story arc but proved so popular that she stayed on the street for four years. 

3. Joanna Lumley

In 1973, at the start of her career, the Absolutely Fabulous actress appeared in eight episodes of Coronation Street as Elaine Perkins. Her character was introduced as a love interest for the show's leading man, Ken Barlow (William Roache), despite being much younger than him. Lumley has said she hoped to stay on the show for longer, but the writers decided to take Ken in a different direction.

4. Anne Reid

Reid, 87, is a true stalwart of British TV whose recent credits include Sanditon, Sally Wainwright's Last Tango in Halifax, and Russell T Davies' Years and Years. The bedrock of her prolific career is surely her decade-long stint as Val Barlow, an enterprising hair salon owner who became the first wife of Ken Barlow. Val was killed by an electric shock in 1971, so sadly Reid can never return for a guest appearance.

5. Patricia Routledge

This great Dame starred in one of the most successful British sitcoms of the 1990s, Keeping Up Appearances. She is also a Tony-winning stage actress. But earlier in her career, back in 1961, she put in a five-episode stint on Coronation Street as cafe owner Sylvia Snape. If her career had gone differently, it is quite easy to picture Routledge as a classic Corrie matriarch.

6. Katherine Kelly

Over the last decade, Kelly has become a firm favorite of British TV drama, appearing in everything from Happy Valley to Doctor Who spin-off Class. She also stars in season two of Sundance Now's hit anthology series Innocent. Between 2006 and 2012, she played no-nonsense Becky McDonald on Coronation Street, giving us one of the show's most resilient and surprising characters.

7. Joanne Froggatt

For her performance as Downton Abbey's loyal ladies' maid Anna Bates, Froggatt won a Golden Globe award and scored three Emmy nominations. She also starred in Sundance Now's gripping thriller series Liar. Her career began in the late-1990s with an 18-month Corrie stint as Zoe Tattersall, a former troubled teenager who manages to turn her life around.

8. Sally Lindsay

Lindsay co-created and stars in The Madame Blanc Mysteries, a cozy crime series about an English antiques dealer who moonlights as an amateur detective in the south of France. Season two has just premiered on Acorn TV. From 2001 to 2006, she was a key Corrie cast member, holding court in the Rovers Return as charismatic barmaid Shelley Unwin.

Do you have a favorite Coronation Street actress?