Cathy Belton has said that the cast of Red Rock are "excited, relieved and delighted" that the Irish soap is being so well received in the UK following its debut on BBC One this month.
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment at the launch of the 2016 Dublin Theatre Festival, the actress said: "All the hard work has paid off.
"With the pedigree with the producers and TV3 taking the risk with this new drama that nobody knew where it was going to go. I think we all just feel very excited and relieved and delighted that it's doing so well."
She added: "[It got] great reviews and 1.1 million viewers in the first episode, and it continues to grow, which is huge."
Belton, who is starring in a Druid production of a new play Helen & I by young Tuam-born writer Meaghbh McHugh at this year's Dublin Theatre Festival, also revealed that excitement is already mounting ahead of shooting season three of Red Rock this October.
["I'm] very excited, we have great scripts coming out, really great storylines, personally I have a great storyline I'm really looking forward to that, so yeah it'll be lovely," she said.
Speaking about her return to theatre for Helen & I, Belton said: "It's nice to be on stage again, I can't wait to be back on stage, and I know I'll be dying to get in front of the camera again in October."
Red Rock made its debut on BBC One at 1.45pm on Monday July 11 in the slot usually occupied by Doctors.
It made a big impact with BBC viewers, with one viewer writing: "Whoever at BBC daytime decided to buy this brilliant cross between EastEnders and The Bill is a genius", while another complimented the show's "strong, powerful, inspirational female characters".
Whoever at BBC daytime decided to buy this brilliant cross between EastEnders and The Bill is a genius #redrock
— Gordon Donaldson (@gdonaldson88) July 11, 2016
Anyone think UK soap is lacking strong, powerful, inspirational female characters?
— Sam (@IAreSam) July 11, 2016
Check out #RedRock.#MoreThanJustBabyOvens
The 80 episodes of the first series, which launched on TV3 last year, have been merged into forty longer episodes for the BBC.
The soap, which is produced by Dublin's Element Pictures and the UK's Angel Station (formerly Company Pictures), premiered on Irish screens at the start of 2015 and has received widespread acclaim and numerous awards.
At the IFTA TV Awards in Dublin last October Red Rock was honoured with Best Soap, Best Director (Lisa Mulcahy) and the People's Choice TV Show of the Year award.
Streaming service Amazon Prime recently acquired Red Rock in a deal reported to be worth over €1m and which will see the series stream in the US for a number of years.
