The network is developing a new take on the '80s sci-fi series

People of Earth, make sure your small house pets are secure: The animal-chomping lizard-people of "V" may be headed back to television.

ABC has put a new version of the 1980s sci-fi franchise into development. Scott Peters, a co-creator of "The 4400," is writing the new version and will executive produce with film and video-game producer Jace Hall ("F.E.A.R.").

"Whenever I mention 'V' to anybody, they still have a lot of good memories about the original movie and series," Peters tells Variety. "Everybody has that imagery of their uniforms, or the visitor eating a hamster. It's a science fiction icon and too good to pass up."

ABC's version of "V" will be produced by Warner Bros. TV, which produced the original 1983 miniseries on NBC, a follow-up mini the next year and a weekly show that ran for one season in 1984-85. Hall is a former head of Warner Bros. Interactive, and his production company has a home on the lot.

Kenneth Johnson, the creator of the original show, has also been working on a next-gen take on the concept, but isn't involved with ABC's project.

The original "V" served as a rather overt Holocaust allegory, down to the swastika-like insignia on the Visitors' uniforms. Peters says his take won't go in exactly the same direction but will deal with some of the same themes of blind faith and resistance to power.

It will center on a Homeland Security agent and single mother whose teenage son becomes enamored of the aliens, Variety says. Naturally, the initially benevolent Visitors have ulterior motives.

In addition to "The 44000," Peters has written for "Highlander" and "The Outer Limits." He's also directed episodes of "Limits" and "Jericho."