Angel: Trailer, certificate and where to watch
Sharp and witty Buffy spin-off following the vampire with a soul in the city of Angels
Year: 1999-2004
Certificate: 15
A spin-off from the runaway 1990s hit Buffy The Vampire Slayer, this followed David Boreanaz's vampire with a soul, as he left Buffy and Sunnydale and went it alone in LA, the city of Angels. It's got film noir vibes, with Angel working as a private eye who can go to places your average gumshoe can't, like tackling demons posing as lawyers.
Buffy and Angel's doomed love affair was a key dynamic in the parent show. To recap, if he ever achieved 'perfect happiness', he'd lose his soul and revert to evil vampire (which happened in Buffy's second series). The 'perfect happiness' (a euphemism for sex and orgasm) was mostly glossed over for Buffy's teen audiences, making it more romantic melodrama than salaciously sexual.
Pitching this show at an older audience freed the storylines to encompass darker and more adult themes, which it did to tremendous effect. All while retaining the wit, humour and monsters (and Charisma Carpenter's gloriously vicious Cordelia) that filled this wonderfully realised fantasy universe. (Five series)
