ANGEL: A HISTORY

Angel is a spin off from the highly acclaimed cult show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series is about a guy called Angel - except he is so much more than just a guy.

Angel first came to our attention as the brooding mystery man who helped Buffy in the series first season. But one glance at his good looks and we knew he wasn't going to stay an occasional guest appearance guy for long.

So imagine our surprise when we discovered his beverage of choice!

A vampire helping the slayer? We had to know more!

Born in Ireland over 200 years ago Angel - known to his fanged friends as Angelus - was turned by the beautiful Darla. The pair went on to cut a swathe of death and destruction throughout the Old World. The demon that inhabited his body was renowned for it's cruelty and Angelus excelled in not only physically but mentally torturing his victims before killing them. That was until just over a hundred years ago when he earned the wrath of a Romany clan who cursed him with his soul back.

Wracked with guilt over what he had become and done Angel fled to America where he subsided for years on vermin, shunning the outside world.

It was the teenage Buffy Summers that bought Angel back from the brink of destruction and gave him a reason to live and it was also the same Buffy - now the love of his life - years later that forced him to move from Sunnydale. His love for her was forbidden, as a moment of true happiness would cause him to lose his soul and revert back to the monster he was before, so for both their sakes he had to leave.

Now situated in Los Angeles, the city of angels, he continued his quest for redemption by hunting vampires and demons.

Encouraged by the Powers That Be, through the use of visions, Angel sets up a detective agency with the help of Doyle - half-demon and now sadly deceased, Cordelia - wanna be actress, fallen socialite and a former Scooby-Doo member of Buffy's gang, Wesley Wyndam-Price - fallen Watcher and rogue demon hunter, and Gunn - street kid and vampire killer. Angel battles the denizens of the night and helps the helpless deal with anything from street gangs to nefarious law firms and all the boogey monsters in-between.

Even if it takes an eternity, he will make amends...