It had been previously reported that a film was in the works but news that the adaptation is headed to the small screen will comes as a surprise, as the Oscar-winning actress has worked almost exclusively in film until now.

The book is a sharp comedy set in a primary school, torn apart when the annual school trivia night ends up in a riot and an unexplained death.

Marketing material produced for the book bills it as "a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, school-yard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive".

When it was released in the US, the book became a New York Times bestseller.

The project, which is being billed as a "limited series", will also star Reese Witherspoon.

The screenwriter David E. Kelley, whose television projects range from the iconic Ally McBeal to an unsuccessful attempt to reboot Wonder Woman as a TV series, will write the series.

The series has not yet sold to a TV network in the US, but with star firepower such as Kidman, Witherspoon and Kelley on board, the chance of it not selling is slim.

Kidman and Witherspoon will both serve as co-producers through their respective production companies, Kidman's Blossom Film and Witherspoon's Pacific Standard.

The US trade publication Variety reports that Moriarty, who wrote the book, will also serve as a co-producer.

Kidman's decision to shift into television reflects a bigger trend in Hollywood which has seen film's best writers, directors and actors migrate away from big-ticket "action figure"-obsessed cinema.

The film actor Kevin Spacey notably starred in the TV reboot of the British masterpiece House of Cards.

This year, Oscar-winning film actors such as Matthew McConaughey and Billy Bob Thornton have also starred in critically acclaimed TV programs True Detective and Fargo.