On January 21, the Fox network will launch one of the most eagerly awaited series of the upcoming season, titled The Following, in which Kevin Bacon will portray an FBI profiler faced with an evil serial killer, marking his first full-time role in a TV series.

'The Following' ©Warner Bros. Television

Bacon, who has been actively sought out by television producers for years, has accepted the lead role in The Following as former FBI agent Ryan Hardy, who is called upon to track down the escaped serial killer named Joe Carroll, whom he helped catch in 2003. Hardy joins a team of agents as an expert consultant who knows Carroll better than anyone. He soon discovers that Carroll used modern technology to develop a network of serial killers that operates across the country.

The thriller will go back and forth between Ryan Hardy and the psychopathic killer, played by James Purefoy (Mark Anthony in HBO's Rome).

The dark script of The Following was penned by Kevin Williamson, whose works for the small and big screen usually target a younger crowd (Vampire Diaries, Dawson's Creek, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream).

Watch the trailer for The Following: youtu.be/F_c3PNs1eV8