Willow: Carpe diem! You told me that, once. Buffy: Fish of the day? Willow: Not "carp" - carpe! It means "seize the day". Buffy: Right...

© Don Macnaughtan 2004

This bibliography covers some of the huge volume of print and electronic media that have been produced since 1997 on "Buffy" and "Angel." It includes books, articles, essays, primary materials such as scripts and dvds, websites, fiction, games, and many other manifestations of the Buffyverse canon.

DVDs

Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (1992) DVD.

The Unaired Production Pilot. (1996) DVD.

• Review from Sunnydale Slayers

The Complete First Season. (1996) DVD.

• Review from DVD Verdict
  
• Amazon reviews
  "Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) looks like your typical perky high-schooler, and like most, she has her secret fears and anxieties. However, while most teens are worrying about their next date, their next zit, or their next term paper, Buffy's angsting over the next vampire she has to slay. See, Buffy, a young woman with superhuman strength, is the "chosen one," and she must help rid the world of evil, namely by staking demons. The exceptional first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer introduces us to the treacherous world of Sunnydale High School (where Buffy moved after torching her previous high school's gym). The characters there include "watcher" Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) and the original "Scooby Gang" members - friendly geek Xander (Nicholas Brendon), computer whiz Willow (Alyson Hannigan), and snobbish popular girl Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) - who aid Buffy in her quest. Those used to the darker tone that Buffy took in its later seasons will be surprised by the lighter feeling these first 12 episodes have - it's kind of like Buffy 90210 as the cast grapples with regular teen problems in addition to saving the world from demonic darkness. Fans of the show will enjoy the crisp writing, the phenomenal chemistry of the cast (already well-established within the first few episodes), and the introduction to characters that would stay for many seasons, including moody vampire Angel (David Boreanaz). Through it all, Gellar carries the series with amazing confidence, whether conveying the despair of high school or dispatching various demons - she's one of TV's most distinctive and strongest heroines." - Mark Englehart.

The Complete Second Season. (1997) DVD.

• Review from DVD Verdict
  
• Amazon reviews
  "At the heart of the first years of Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the romance between Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), slayer of all things evil, and hunky Angel (David Boreanaz), the tortured vampire destined to walk the earth with a soul. The second season of Buffy took the Buffy-Angel pas de deux from ecstasy to agony in a now-classic plot arc that catapulted the show from WB teen drama to true TV greatness. You see, if the cursed Angel ever experiences true happiness for a moment, he'll revert to being an evil vampire again. And guess what happens after Buffy and Angel finally declare their love for one another and consummate their relationship...
  
  "Buffy found its true momentum during the second season, as geeky Xander (Nicholas Brendon) fell in love with popular girl Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), Willow (Alyson Hannigan) gave up her crush on Xander in favor of werewolf boy Oz (Seth Green), and watcher Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) began a sweetly tentative relationship with computer teacher (and witch) Jenny Calendar (Robia LaMorte). Mayhem came to Sunnydale, though, in the form of evil vampires Drusilla (Juliet Landau) and Spike (drolly wicked James Marsters), who were more than ready to aid and abet Angel as he turned bad. It all sounds like horror-action mayhem (and there are great fight scenes), but Buffy took on its plotlines with amazing depth, intelligence, and humor. And oh, man, the love story! Buffy and Angel's tragic relationship is one of the most heartbreaking you'll ever find. Buffy's final dilemma finds her having to save the world at Angel's expense, and Gellar (who deserves a passel of Emmys for her work) is phenomenal at telegraphing Buffy's swirling conflicts between love and duty. This is some of the best TV ever made, period." - Mark Englehart.

The Complete Third Season. (1998) DVD.

• Review from DVD Verdict
  
• Amazon reviews
  "The third season of Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer was marked by the arrival in Sunnydale of renegade slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku), a moody loner who seemed to like her demon-staking calling just a little too much. While Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) was always wary of Faith, the two developed a deep friendship and appreciative rapport - that is, until the evil mayor of Sunnydale (Harry Groener) tapped into Faith's dark side and lured her into his plot to take over the world, first as a double agent spying on Buffy, then as out-and-out nemesis. And as the mayor's ascension approached - which happened to fall on Sunnydale High's graduation day - Buffy and Faith's battles got nastier and nastier, as Buffy attempted to wrestle with her dark side (literally and figuratively), save the world and her friends, and keep her lover Angel (David Boreanaz) out of Faith's evil clutches.
  
  "Chock-full of exceptional episodes, this third season started out with a bang (the superb season opener "Anne," in which a runaway Buffy finally returns to her Slayer calling) and never let up. Among other highlights, the season introduced former vengeance demon and soon-to-be regular Anya (Emma Caulfield), fleshed out Angel's tortured character (and readied him for his own series), and featured a hilarious doppelganger Willow (Alyson Hannigan), a vampire from a parallel universe, who in Willow's own words was "evil and... skanky... and kinda gay!" (Total foreshadowing there, folks.) The season's piece de resistance, though, was the two-parter "Graduation Day," wherein Faith tries to kill Angel, and the students of Sunnydale High prepare to do battle with a mutated mayor and his army of demons. Aside from the series' exceptional writing and acting, this compelling year of Buffy was anchored by the consistently excellent Gellar, as well as Dushku's complicated Faith, a girl you truly love to hate. By the time you finish these episodes, Faith will have cast a spell on you that you'll find very hard to shake." - Mark Englehart.

The Complete Fourth Season. (1999) DVD.

• Review from DVD Verdict
  
• Amazon reviews
  "Having battled a hellish vampire master, an evil boyfriend, a rogue slayer, a giant man-eating demon-snake thing and a particularly nasty high school principal, Buffy Summers embarked on one of her biggest challenges in the fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: college. With boyfriend Angel out of the picture (and on his own show) and Sunnydale High destroyed, new horizons were to be tackled for Buffy and the rest of the Scooby gang. There were cute guys (Buffy's new boyfriend Riley), cute girls (Willow's new girlfriend Tara - yes, Willow's gay!), frat parties, irritating roommates, harsh professors, and, oh yes, a secret military initiative that was experimenting on the demon population (Riley's part of it).
  
  "Buffy truly hit its golden years in the fourth season - just when you thought this show couldn't get any better, Joss Whedon and his creative team pulled out all the stops and took Buffy and co. into rich new territory. By far, the highlight of the season (and the entire series) was the Emmy-nominated "Hush," a nearly dialogue-free episode in which the creepy "Gentlemen" rob Sunnydale of its collective voice, and Buffy and Riley finally come face to face with each other's hidden identities. While Frankenstein-esque monster Adam wasn't the show's best villain (you'll have to wait until next season's Glory for that), he was a worthy adversary for the biotech age, and the military milieu was a nice contrast to Buffy's previous gothic outings. Season 4 also marked the return of blond vampire Spike (who developed a crush on Buffy), the ascension of vengeance demon Anya to full-time cast status, and the brief return of bad slayer Faith (in a fab two-part body-switching episode). Throughout, the entire cast, headed by the unparalleled Sarah Michelle Gellar, worked television magic of the kind rarely seen on the small screen. This is Buffy at its best." - Mark Englehart.

The Complete Fifth Season. (2000) DVD.

• Review from DVD Verdict
  
• Amazon reviews
  "The fifth season of Joss Whedon's hit series started out in excellent form as slayer extraordinaire Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) did battle with the most famous of vampires (that Dracula guy) and then went on to spar with another nemesis, little sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg). Wait - Buffy has a teenage sister? Where has she been the past four years? And why is everyone acting like she's always been around? Turns out that young Dawn is actually "The Key," a form of pure energy that, true to its name, helps open the gates between different dimensions. To protect said key from falling into the wrong hands, a group of monks gave it human form and sent it to the fiercely protective Buffy for safekeeping, creating new memories of Dawn for everyone as if she'd existed... well, always. Why all the super secrecy? There's this very, very, very bad girl named Glory (Clare Kramer) who wants the key very badly, and will do anything to get it. Oh, and by the way, Glory isn't just a run-of-the-mill demon... she's way worse.
  
  "Some fans will tell you that Buffy "jumped the shark" with the introduction of Dawn, when in actuality this season was the pinnacle of the show's achievement, as there was superb comedy to be had ("Buffy Vs. Dracula," the double-Xander episode "The Replacement," the introduction of the "Buffybot" in "Intervention") as well as some of television's best drama. The Whedon-scripted and -directed "The Body" remains one of Buffy's best episodes, when the young woman who faces down supernatural death on a daily basis finds herself powerless in the wake of her mother's sudden passing. The first third or so of the season was a bit choppy, but once the evil Glory came into her own, Buffy was a television force to be reckoned with. Kramer was the show's best villain (after the evil Angel, natch), and the supporting cast was never better. But as always, it was the superb Gellar who was the powerful center of the show, sparking opposite lovelorn vampire Spike (James Marsters) and wrestling with moral dilemmas rarely seen on television. With this season, Buffy Summers became, like Tony Soprano, one of television's true greats." - Mark Englehart.

The Complete Sixth Season. (2001) DVD.

• Review from DVD Verdict
  
• Amazon reviews
  "The sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer followed the logic of plot and character development into some gloomy places. The year begins with Buffy being raised from the dead by the friends who miss her, but who fail to understand that a sacrifice taken back is a sacrifice negated. Dragged out of what she believes to have been heavenly bliss, she finds herself "going through the motions" and entering into a relationship with the evil, besotted vampire Spike just to force her emotions. Willow becomes ever more caught up in the temptations of magic; Xander and Anya move towards marriage without ever discussing their reservations; Giles feels he is standing in the way of Buffy's adult independence; Dawn feels neglected. What none of them need is a menace that is, at this point, simply annoying - three high school contemporaries who have turned their hand to magical and high-tech villainy. Added to this is a hungry ghost, an invisibility ray, an amnesia spell and a song-and-dance demon (who acts as rationale for the incomparable musical episode "Once More, with Feeling").
  
  "This is a year in which chickens come home to roost: everything from the villainy of the three geeks to Xander's doubts about marriage come to a head, often - as in the case of the impressive wedding episode - through wildly dark humor. The estrangement of the characters from each other - a well-observed portrait of what happens to college pals in their early 20s - comes to a shocking head with the death of a major character and that death's apocalyptic consequences. The series ends on a consoling note which it has, by that point and in spite of imperfections, entirely earned." - Roz Kaveney.

The Complete Seventh Season. (2002) DVD.

• Review from DVD Verdict
  
• Amazon reviews
  "And so comes the end of an era. No show in the genre in recent memory has delivered the kind of fan hysteria and praise like Buffy. Joss Whedon is a god, and he delivers more goods for the seventh and final season of a show that has given nothing but top of the line product for 7 seasons. Coming off the controversial sixth season, season 7 went back to basics and felt more like it's old self. "Lessons" is a classic and wonderful premiere, showing that Sunnydale High has been re-built, and Dawn now attends the new building. Spike has gotten his soul back and is a blabbering idiot in the basement. Willow is in England with Giles recovering from "Dark Willow", and Buffy gets a job offer as the new school counselor. Plus, it has a very welcome return for some old familiar foes in a brilliant scene. "Same Time, Same Place" has Willow finally coming home, but with results no one expected. The main big bad here is The First. The first evil that has no real shape itself, except for the forms of dead people it takes to manipulate our heroes. Aiding The first is the vampire The Turok-Han, or UberVamp. And finally, evil comes in the form of evil southern preacher Caleb, played by Nathan Fillion. Potentials from all over the world are being brought in to Sunnydale to train and fight the biggest evil once and for all.
  
  "There are numerous highlights here. The return and welcome addition of Andrew to the Scooby Gang being one. "Conversations With Dead People" is a brilliant episode and one of the highlights of the season. "Storyteller" lets Andrew shine in a fun and entertaining way. "Lies My Parents Told Me" is a strong flashback episode dealing with Spike and his mother, and with the present day story of Principal Wood's own agenda towards Spike for his own mother reasons. The great Faith returns in one of the season's top highlights, "Dirty Girls", and remains for the last 4 episodes after that. There is good to be had with "Selfless" and "Him" as well. Season 7 isn't without it's flaws. It slows and gets real bogged down in the middle and late in the run with too many episode relying on dialogue and the training of the potentials. Still, there is enough goodness here to make up for it. The season is back to 'Girl Power', and the sentiment is driven home. The season really goes back to beginning and takes the show to a logical place that can only be the end. There was nowhere else to go. Once again, the writing is superb and the cast proves, one final time, that they were one of the best and most underrated ensembles on TV. The Emmy's should be ashamed. Sarah Michelle Geller carried this show with grace, elegance, heartbreak, strength, and humor. One of the finest leading performances on TV for the last seven years. The finale, "Chosen", is a rip snortin' conclusion with heartbreak, hope, and a feeling of new and wonderful beginnings. The final scene, while not splashy, speaks volumes in just that one frame. It is a beautiful and logistical swan song for our favorite heroine and her team of friends and family, and for a groundbreaking show that can never be, or ever will be, topped. It's an interesting and final journey, and I thank Joss and the cast and crew for giving this special little world of theirs to us every week. Buffy, you will be missed."

The Very Best of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (2004) DVD (UK only).

"For the first time in the UK, a Buffy DVD has been created by the public from an online survey. The unique special edition DVD was released on 1st March 2004 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Over 1.2 million fans visited an online survey where they were asked to vote for their favourite episode. To celebrate the end of the hit television series, the four most popular will appear together on The Best Of Buffy DVD. Over 100 Buffy episodes received votes, but top of the bill came Hush, The Gift, Becoming Part I and Graduation Day Part II. In addition to the four episodes the DVD boasts some extra material, including a preview freaturette from the forthcoming Buffy Season 7 DVD collection."

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Chosen Collection (40 discs) (2005) DVD.

"This beautifully designed, Limited Edition collectible box contains all 7 seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, plus a bonus disk containing a brand new documentary featuring creator Joss Whedon. Each box is individually numbered for increased collectibility and value, and will also contain a signed letter from Whedon and an exclusive comprehensive book with episode listings and memorable Buffy quotes."





---

Angel: Season One. (1999) DVD.

• Review from DVD Verdict
  
• Amazon reviews
  "He's hunky, he's brooding, he's a do-gooder, and he was Buffy's first boyfriend. Angel, the tortured vampire destined to walk the earth with a soul, got his own series after three seasons on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and did what any new star might do: he moved to L.A. (the City of Angels - get it?) and set up shop. Angel (co-created by Buffy mastermind Joss Whedon) finds the titular vampire (David Boreanaz) as a kind of supernatural private investigator, fighting evil one case at a time and, like his ex-girlfriend, keeping the world from getting destroyed by vengeful demons and such.
  
  "A darker, more film noir version of Buffy, Angel lacked the peppy humor that permeated Sunnydale but more than made up for it in its soul-wrenching gravitas, and it elevated Boreanaz to leading-man status, a role he filled out ably and then some. Initially, the stoic vampire was paired with Irish demon Doyle (the late Glenn Quinn) and fellow Sunnydale transplant Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), but Angel finally found its footing when Doyle was dispatched (giving his powers of precognition to Cordelia) and replaced by Buffy alum Wesley (Alexis Denisof), a fallen watcher who, like his friends, was hoping for a new start in L.A. However, pesky law firm Wolfram and Hart (a front for the demon mafia, as it were) reared its ugly head and discovered Angel's presence, thus setting the stage for a battle of good and evil - and if you're a regular Joss Whedon fan, you know that it's a never-ending war.
  
  "This first season features guest appearances by various Buffy characters, including werewolf boy Oz (Seth Green), rogue slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku), deliciously evil vamp Darla (Julie Benz), and Buffy herself (Sarah Michelle Gellar), all of whom helped get the show off and running in style." - Mark Englehart.

Angel: Season Two. (2000) DVD.

• Review from DVD Verdict
  
• Amazon reviews
  "The second season of Angel saw the cult vampire show finally stand on its own from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, assembling all the members of the show's core cast, transferring the action to a fashionably run-down L.A. hotel, and bringing in a few Buffy characters from Angel's history to further establish the moody vampire's own mythology. Moving their Angel Investigations to posher digs, Angel (David Boreanaz), Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), and Wesley (Alexis Denisof) were soon joined by street fighter (J. August Richards)ñ-and by street fighter, of course we mean demon street fighter. But just as this group was solidifying, up popped Angel's old love, Darla (the fantastic Julie Benz), freshly arrived in L.A. from a hell dimensionÖ just in time to be turned into a vampire again by her old cohort, Drusilla (Juliet Landau), and lure Angel into abandoning his newly formed team.
  
  "It was the best and worst of times for Angel in its second year, for while the basis was being set for the show's stellar third and fourth seasons, dramatic tension was diluted by Angel's going solo and the necessary (but plot-debilitating) flashbacks to various points in Angel's history. However, just when it seemed everything was about to fly out the window, Angel's creative team threw its characters for a loop - literally - by transporting them to the demon dimension of Pylea, a medieval-style fantasyland populated by monsters and humans alike. It shouldn't have worked, as hokey as it was... but it did, thanks to crack storytelling, sharp dialogue, and the sheer joy the actors unleashed, especially the gifted and fiendishly funny Carpenter. The second half of the season also saw the addition of two of Angel's best characters: the horned Lorne (Andy Hallett), a green demon with a penchant for karaoke, and Fred (Amy Acker), a physicist trapped in Pylea who helped the gang engineer their escape. With these two in tow, Angel began to soar." - Mark Englehart

Angel: Season Three. (2001) DVD.

• Review from DVD Verdict
  Amazon reviews
  "The third season of Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer was marked by the arrival in Sunnydale of renegade slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku), a moody loner who seemed to like her demon-staking calling just a little too much. While Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) was always wary of Faith, the two developed a deep friendship and appreciative rapport - that is, until the evil mayor of Sunnydale (Harry Groener) tapped into Faith's dark side and lured her into his plot to take over the world, first as a double agent spying on Buffy, then as out-and-out nemesis. And as the mayor's ascension approached - which happened to fall on Sunnydale High's graduation day - Buffy and Faith's battles got nastier and nastier, as Buffy attempted to wrestle with her dark side (literally and figuratively), save the world and her friends, and keep her lover Angel (David Boreanaz) out of Faith's evil clutches.
  
  "Chock-full of exceptional episodes, this third season started out with a bang (the superb season opener "Anne," in which a runaway Buffy finally returns to her Slayer calling) and never let up. Among other highlights, the season introduced former vengeance demon and soon-to-be regular Anya (Emma Caulfield), fleshed out Angel's tortured character (and readied him for his own series), and featured a hilarious doppelganger Willow (Alyson Hannigan), a vampire from a parallel universe, who in Willow's own words was "evil and... skanky... and kinda gay!" (Total foreshadowing there, folks.) The season's piece de resistance, though, was the two-parter "Graduation Day," wherein Faith tries to kill Angel, and the students of Sunnydale High prepare to do battle with a mutated mayor and his army of demons. Aside from the series' exceptional writing and acting, this compelling year of Buffy was anchored by the consistently excellent Gellar, as well as Dushku's complicated Faith, a girl you truly love to hate. By the time you finish these episodes, Faith will have cast a spell on you that you'll find very hard to shake." - Mark Englehart.

Angel: Season Four. (2002) DVD.

• Review from DVD Verdict
  Amazon reviews
  "As the fourth season of Angel starts, everything is still as we left it: Angel has been sunk to the bottom of the sea in an iron box by his inexplicable and vindictive son Connor and Cordelia has been summoned to higher realms to await orders. Gunn and Fred are left in the Hyperion Hotel, unsure about what has happened to their friends, and Lilah is working hard to seduce Wesley to the dark side. In the first few episodes, some of this is resolved but it's almost immediately replaced by far worse crises: prophesies of doom accumulate more rapidly even than usual in this wonderfully gloomy show and a horned rock-like beast rains fire on Los Angeles. This last year is Angel's most tightly dramatic season yet - with a story arc of surprising intensity punctuated by the show's usual wit and sexiness.
  
  "Season 4 is presented on DVD in Dolby 2.0 Surround Sound and anamorphic widescreen. It comes with insightful, and often hilarious, commentaries on seven of the 22 episodes as well as featurettes - a series overview, profiles of the characters of Jasmine and the Beast, a farewell to the Hyperion Hotel (the characters' base for three seasons), and a discussion of the apocalypse that Angel has to deal with from episode 7 onwards." - Roz Kaveney.

Angel: Season Five. (2003) DVD.

• Review from DVD Verdict
  Dr DVD review
  "When "Buffy" ended its seven-season run, fans took solace in the fact that its spin-off, "Angel," was still going strong.
  
  At least solace was taken for the first half of the fifth season - until the hammer was dropped and it was announced that "Angel" would be canceled. Unlike "Buffy," the announcement was unexpected, and there was a bit of an uproar. Passionate pleas, online petitions, public outcry - it all did no good.
  
  Among those caught off guard was creator Joss Whedon. Not one to go down gracefully, he promised to make everyone watching as upset about the cancellation as he was. The result is a tightly written emotional rollercoaster that, at least in my case, was more upsetting than a television show has any business being. And I loved every minute of it.
  
  Even before the cancellation announcement, the season set up a premise that took the show in an entirely new direction - corporate takeover. In the proverbial and literal deal with the devil, Angel and Co. take over Wolfram and Hart, a corporate lawyer firm (just bask in the symbolic pleasure of that one) that has been Angel's greatest foe since the show's beginning. Everyone gets their heart's desire, but with the uncomfortable knowledge that they'd sold their soul.
  
  The first few episodes get a little bit redundant with the characters agonizing over their decision and ultimately deciding that they can still do good work in the epicenter of evil. But it also gives fans a chance to readjust to the new direction and allows for some great comic moments; the team-building "commercial" that warns against ritual sacrifice on the job is priceless.
  
  After establishing the central internal conflicts, the writers for "Angel" get down to business putting together what is arguably the show's best season. The story arc is there, but not overwhelming, allowing for some fantastic stand-alone episodes. Among the most notorious of these is "Smile Time," which finds our dark hero turned into a puppet. Well-written and brilliantly executed, it may be one of my favorite 45 minutes in my long and storied television-watching history.
  
  The show's 100th episode, "You're Welcome," is a bittersweet answer to the question of Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), who's been part of the Buffy story from its humble beginnings. And of course, the finale, "Not Fade Away," was mind-blowing and heartbreaking and an appropriately ambiguous ending for a show that was cut short in its prime.
  
  It's always tough to review a later season of a show, simply because I can't recommend it unless you're already a fan - in that case, you don't need me telling you that you should buy it. Season 5 of "Angel" takes some shocking turns that even the most seasoned Joss Whedon fans didn't see coming, and that alone makes it worth the watching. If you're flirting with the idea of watching the show now that you know it's over, go for it. Start at the beginning, stick with it, and you'll be rewarded with a world that's well-realized and wonderfully written and will make you laugh, cry, and think deep, philosophical thoughts - usually all in the same episode." - Elizabeth Trupp.

Joss Whedon: The Master at Play. (2005) DVD.

• "An in-depth discussion with the master himself, this DVD reveals not only the secrets and stories behind Whedon's classic series and films, but also touches on tools you'll need to elevate your own writing."

Cherub, the Vampire with Bunny Slippers. (2006) DVD.
• "Spawned of an unholy alliance between Seattle's fringe theatre and independent film scenes, "Cherub, the Vampire with Bunny Slippers" is a loving parody of Joss Whedon's "Angel" television series. Follow Cherub and his intrepid band as they battle (kind of) forces of evil (sort of), drink copious amounts of gin and find the upside of living in an amoral quagmire of a universe.
  
  Planned within the sheltering arms of our own ignorance, the final project spanned two seasons, totaling twenty-five episodes, seven featurettes, and two trailers. All told we have over 170 minutes of footage, produced from over 230 pages of script (yes, there was a script), and shot in a total of sixteen days."

since 1 August 2007