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J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot has acquired the final unproduced screenplay written by The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling, aiming to develop it into an ‘event limited series’ as part of the company’s deal with Warner Bros. TV.

The Stops Along the Way was completed as a film script a few months before Serling’s death in 1975. Discussing the script shortly before his death, Serling said: ‘I just wrote The Stops Along the Way, which is, I think, a lovely script…’ The details of the story are being kept secret at the moment, but it is expected to form the basis for a short-run television serial. Such ‘limited’ episodic series are popular, with Fox using the format to revive 24. The show will join Abrams/Bad Robot’s four other series airing next season: Revolution, Person of Interest (both returning), Believe and Almost Human.

Abrams has often spoken of his love for Serling’s The Twilight Zone, the TV show he preferred to Star Trek. Serling went on to write, produce and present Rod Serling’s Night Gallery and he wrote the screenplay for Planet of the Apes, featuring one of the all-time classic ‘twist’ endings.