Angel: Seasons 1-5 [DVD]

It is probably fair to say that most people who are buying this boxset are already fans of the show and have probably seen it on tv (although the fifth and final season has not yet been aired on terrestrial television). For those unfamiliar with the show, or those who were casual viewers, Angel was, at least in my opinion, one of the finest American shows of the past decade. It was unfairly cancelled at the end of its fifth season, even though its budget had been cut and it had recieved its highest ever viewing figures. The WB network (who also wanted to cull Buffy at the end of its fifth season - do we see a pattern emerging?), instead favoured the much weaker 'Charmed', which is now in its eighth season. But I digress.
From its second season onwards, it is fair to say that Angel surpassed its parent show Buffy the Vampire Slayer in virtually every way. Where as Buffy was ultimately restrictive, and began to run out of ideas having found it harder and harder to maintain the balance that worked so well in its early years, Angel was able to successfully change its format to keep things fresh. This is no more apparent than between its fourth and fifth season, when Angel and company took over the evil law firm (yes, really) that they had spent the last four years fighting. As a result of this new setting, season five contained some of the nicest episodes of the shows run (watch out for the hilarious 'Smile Time').
'Angel' had a huge reservoir from which to draw its storylines, given that its main character was 240 years old, and had a huge backstory. In fact, a large number of 'Angel's' episodes do feature flashbacks of some kind, most notably in seasons one, two and three. Also important was Angel's history with Darla, Spike and Drusilla, who were some of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer's' most memorable characters. I imagine fans of the 'Buffyverse' squealed with delight when Drusilla returned in season two.
Being a spin-off of Buffy, Angel also saw the permanent return of many of its parent show's secondary characters, including Wesley and Harmony. Throuhgout its run, there were also guets appearances from the likes of Faith, Buffy, Willow, Oz and Andrew, to name a few, as well as minor characters such as Anne (aka Chanterelle and Sister Sunshine), who had appeared in a couple of episodes of Buffy.
Watching all five seasons in chronological order will take a while, but it is nice to see the development of characters such as Wesley (from stuffy watcher to rogue demon hunter, to plain unhinged), as well as the gradual integration of Lorne, the delightful horned green singing demon, who runs a demonic karaoke bar.

Overall, Angel is a great show, and is much deeper than Buffy. It can also be darker, although the humour is just as goofy as in its parent show.
This is a must buy for fans of the show who have not yet purchased the DVD's. For those who are not sure, I would recommend watching the Vampire Anthology DVD's first to get a flavour of the show.
I believe this is a limited edition boxset, and so it would be best to snap it up asap. If not, you might regret it!

...But I can wholeheartedly praise the packaging!

This is the neatest, most compact, space-efficient yet lush box-set that I have seen. Each season is one slim-fit square pack of rigid plastic holders, of minimum CD size, and the five seasons fit neatly into a cube. It is minimalist in size (a major selling point if you have as many DVDs as I do) but absolutely first class in printing and presentation. The accompanying booklet is mostly in full colour - gorgeous stills from the shows - and the outside of the box is subtle and tasteful. The "personal" letter from Joss Whedon has already been mentioned, and it is quite sweet.

Internally, as it were, there are a good selection of extras - yes, I know that we buy them for the shows and not specifically for the extras, but personally I love informed commentaries, and Joss Whedon is very good at adding information and improving our understanding of the show. Each season has an overview featurette - very useful - and some additional featurettes on stunts, sets, themes, characters, gags, etc.

There is a strange anomaly on Season 5, a very annoying documentary-style anti-piracy statement that is patronising the first time, and which rapidly becomes infuriating. However, by pressing the "skip" button on your remote you can move over the tacky film to the - unfortunately non-skippable - two anti-piracy screens. Finally, we get to the menus. I am SO looking forward to the day when we get DVD players with the power to skip all the boring stuff at the beginning of the discs, especially now that more and more DVDs come with adverts for other films/shows. Whoops, getting on my soapbox again.

Only one complaint: one of the discs in season 4 "burrs" in the machine while displaying menus. Luckily, it falls silent when it plays, but it's quite annoying. Anyone else have the same problem?

All in all, a fantastic box set: a great show - well, you already knew that - and now we can watch the episodes end to end, the meanings and subtleties become clearer and more enjoyable, as does the development of the characters.

If you enjoy Angel, have you looked at Firefly?