Written by Emmy-nominated The 4400 co-creator and executive producer Scott Peters, the new V was sold to ABC as a spec script.
The original NBC television mini-series, produced during the golden age of that format and later leading to a second mini-series and a short-lived spin-off weekly series in the '84-'85 season, centered on a race of lizard-like aliens who come to Earth disguised as humans with seemingly with friendly intentions, but literally and figuratively masking a hidden agenda. The original series' story very bluntly served as allegory to Nazi Germany during the Holocaust, going so far as to have characters that lived through that era recognize the aliens' methods and intentions.
Peters told Variety he won’t duplicate that concept, but that the new V will still focus on what happens when "the masses have blind faith in their leaders".
The new V will focus on a female Homeland Security agent with an aimless, problematic son who "gloms" to aliens upon their arrival — causing tension within the family. But as in the original V, several storylines will be featured