Melissa George's 'The Slap' a success in Aussie TV viewer ratings

The Slap has been hailed a success in viewer ratings on Australian television.

The ABC drama, which was recently picked up for distribution in the UK later this year, was the most watched show in its timeslot across all television networks last Thursday night.

Based on the Christos Tsiolkas novel, The Slap tells the story of the repercussions after a man hits another person's child during a family barbecue. It stars Melissa George, Alex Dimitriades, Jonathan LaPaglia, Essie Davis, Sophie Lowe, Anthony Hayes and Sophie Okonedo.

Matchbox Pictures producer Helen Bowden said: "We are delighted that the first episode has been met in Australia with such excitement both by the fans of the book and by those who've never read it.

"As a story of interconnected family and friends, we hope it will resonate with people everywhere and start a worldwide conversation."

Since the UK's BBC Four announced that it will be airing The Slap, broadcasters in countries such as Spain, Portugal, Greece and Turkey have also expressed interest in acquiring rights to the show.

Nicky Davies Williams, the CEO for DCD Rights, added: "We are very pleased that the success we had anticipated for this high quality drama is materializing and we have had huge interest from our international buyers in Cannes last week.

"The series has kicked off to a stellar start in Australian and we anticipate this will be repeated in the UK later this year, and around the world in the coming months."

Leading man LaPaglia recently admitted that he feels "ashamed" that he had to re-learn his native Australian accent for the show after spending too long in the US. Co-star George said that it was "great" to return to her home country for filming.

Watch ABC's trailer for The Slap below (video contains strong language):