LIFE AFTER CORRIE: Strong women

Mount Pleasant (9pm, Sky 1) stars Sally Lindsay, who played Shelley Unwin in Coronation Street. Here we look at other strong female stars who used to walk the cobbles…

Julie Hesmondhalgh played popular Hayley Cropper (left) in the soap, leaving after her character took her own life following a terminal cancer diagnosis, in 2014. Since Corrie, Julie has appeared in TV series including Happy Valley, and has been cast in the upcoming third series of Broadchurch. Michelle Keegan played Tina McIntyre from 2008 until 2014. Tina bowed out after she was pushed from a height on to the Street’s famous cobbles, dying later in hospital. Keegan was impressive in 2015’s Ordinary Lies, alongside Sally Lindsay, and is currently starring as Georgie Lane (left) in series two of military drama Our Girl (tomorrow, 9pm, BBC1). Suranne Jones played Karen McDonald from 2000 to 2004. She has since won great acclaim for her TV work, including Scott & Bailey (which she created with Sally Lindsay) and Doctor Foster, the latter winning her the Bafta for Best Actress. Scott & Bailey co-star Amelia Bullmore (right, with Jones) also did a five-year stint on Corrie, from 1990 to 1995. Sarah Lancashire made her debut in Corrie as Raquel Wolstenhulme in 1991, and stayed for five years. She went on to star in dramas Where The Heart Is and Clocking Off . Most recently, she has had scene-stealing turns in Happy Valley (right) and Last Tango In Halifax – for the latter, she won a Best Supporting Actress Bafta.