One of the most popular shows of the late 90s/early 00s, Buffy The Vampire Slayer started life off as a mid season filler for fledgling The WB network in America. Based on the very little known movie of the same name, it lasted seven seasons and created spin-off show Angel.

The Premise

"Into each generation a slayer is born. One girl in all the world, a chosen one. One born with the strength and skill to fight the vampires."  In this case the girl is Buffy Summers. Relocated to a small California town called Sunnydale after her parents' divorce, Buffy is your average high school teenager, except she saves the world on an almost nightly basis as the town is smack dab on the entrance to the Hellmouth. With help from her friends and her Watcher, she tries to balance out the two conflicting parts of her life. She also happens to fall in love with a vampire along the way.

Main Characters

Top of the tree is title character herself, Buffy Summers, the chosen one who manages to come back from the dead three times and manages to avert a major apocalypse at least once a year. At first finding it hard to juggle being the Slayer with being in high school, she soon finds comfort in the arms of her un-dead boyfriend, Angel.

Next up is Buffy's best friend Willow Rosenberg. Cute, nerdy bookworm in the first season, Willow soon discovers magic and, over the course of the remaining seasons, becomes a very powerful Wiccan. Firstly, sustaining a long-term relationship with werewolf Oz in college, she falls in love with fellow witch Tara, whose death later causes he to turn evil but she pulls it back before destroying the world.

Xander Harris is Buffy's other best friend and so-called heart of the gang. With no special powers to his name he is just as important as the others when it comes to fighting the good fight. Unlucky in love, he finally manages to hook up with high school hottie Cordelia, until he cheats on her with best friend Willow. Later he is engaged to ex-vengeance demon Anya.  Xander manages to scrape through high school and works a variety of jobs until he finds his calling in construction.

Rupert Giles, or just Giles to most people, is Buffy's Watcher, sent by the aptly named Watcher's Council to train and ensure Buffy does her job. High school librarian until the high school blows up, then man of leisure, he is a father figure to Buffy. During season six he returns back to England and makes sporadic appearances throughout the rest of the show.

Angel is a vampire with a soul and Buffy's main squeeze from seasons one to three. After a night of passion steals his soul, he becomes one of the biggest nemeses Buffy ever has to face. When his soul is restored, Buffy must send him to hell but he returns and eventually leaves for Los Angeles and his own spin-off show.

Spike is another vampire who ends up romancing the Slayer, and to prove to her he can also be a good man, ends up getting a soul as well (clever that). When first introduced to the audience he is part of a Sid and Nancy team comprising himself and long term vampire lover Drusilla.

Cordelia Chase is head cheerleader and all round most popular girl in school and unlikely ally to the gang. She also leaves for Los Angeles at the same time as Angel.

Daniel ‘Oz' Osborne sings in the band Dingo's Ate My Baby, dated Willow from seasons two to four and is a werewolf after being bitten by his nephew. Eventually Oz went to travel the world to find a way to control his werewolfism.

Anya started off as a vengeance demon who granted Cordelia's wish of a Sunnydale without Buffy. After losing her powers she is forced to live through high school again and begins a relationship with Xander. After being jilted at the alter, she reverts back to her demon ways only to discover she no longer takes any pleasure from it.

Tara Maclay meets Willow in a Wiccan Club in college and the two hit it off in more ways than one and begin a relationship. When she is murdered in season six, Willow exacts revenge on her killer by skinning him alive.

Dawn Summers is the Slayer's little sister but all is not what is seems as she just appears in season five and the audience have to learn along with the gang the truth behind her, being that she is really an inter-dimensional key that a God requires to open up other realities.

Why We Like It

Cool, funny engaging scripts with monsters of the week and enough pop culture references to shake a stick at, Buffy The Vampire Slayer was teen television for the masses. Unafraid to switch the direction of a season in an instant, there was great weekly action along with a build up to the end of season baddie showdown. Likeable characters also helped this show to thrive along with the fact the scripts were a metaphor for the real horrors of high school.

Why It Sucks

The show did lose a bit of momentum when the characters descended into college, which was saved by season five but then slowly lost it again for the remaining two seasons. Filler episodes, although rare, were not the best the show had to offer.

Best Episodes

Innocence

When finally making the leap into an adult relationship with her vampire boyfriend Angel, a night of passion steals his soul away turning him into the cold-blooded killer he once was. Men, eh?

Once More With Feeling

Musical episode that spawned a thousand copies but nothing could come close to this little TV gem.

The Gift

Buffy dies to save the world.

Hush

The Gentleman-- i.e. creepy floating demons - steal the voices of the town to cut hearts out. Landmark television as over 80% of the show is in silence.

The Body

Buffy's mother dies of natural causes and the shock and anguish of grief makes its way throughout the entire gang. One of the best episodes of any television show. period.

Nuke the Fridge Moment

Buffy jumping over rooftop to rooftop as Sunnydale is being sucked down into the Hellmouth.Good thing it was the last episode.

What Happened to It?

After five successful seasons on The WB Network it was dropped but picked up by UPN and carried on for an additional two. Lead actress Sarah Michelle Gellar did not want to sign on for an eighth season, inevitably putting an end to the show, but it continues today in comic book form.

You'll Like Buffy The Vampire Slayer if you like:

Angel
Supernatural
Firefly
Dollhouse
Ghost Whisperer
True Blood

• The Lazy Geek's Guide to: The 4400