Buffy The Vampire Slayer was one of the biggest cult hits ever (Picture: 20th Century Fox)

Buffy The Vampire Slayer first aired on television on this day in 1997.

Yes, it’s a whole 18 years since Sarah Michelle Gellar first picked up a stake and Buffy Summers began ridding Sunnydale of those pesky vampire fiends.

The supernatural drama ran for a total of seven seasons, ultimately becoming one of the biggest cult shows ever.

More than 10 years after the Scooby Gang left our screens, we’re still talking about the characters and storylines that made Buffy so great.


Here are just some of the reasons the show has endured.

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It balanced fighting evil with high school drama



Buffy managed to perfectly balance the trials and tribulations of high school with the challenges of trying to prevent the end of the world on a daily basis. Despite the abundance of supernatural goings-on, we could still relate to Buffy and the gang.

Buffy = awesome (Picture: 20th Century Fox)

It had a strong female character at the helm

It’s depressing that this should be notable, but Buffy was one of the few major TV shows around that centred on a strong female character. And as heroine goes, Buffy is still one of the most kick-ass female leads on television ever.

And the rest of the cast was pretty amazing too

Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Head, David Boreanaz, James Marsters… the core cast of Buffy was perfect. Could you imagine anyone else in those roles? Latecomers were just as strong, with Eliza Dushku’s Faith one of the best additions to the cast. We’re still sad that Faith The Vampire Slayer spin-off never happened.

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It was genuinely scary

Like, absolutely terrifying. From the monster you could only see if you were ill to Nathan Fillion’s evil priest Caleb, Buffy always had plenty to have us hiding behind the sofa.

But funny too

The show could have easily descended into pure horror territory, but its sense of humour provided the perfect counter-balance to Buffy’s darker moments.

There were some truly shocking moments

Buffy had the ability to rock you to the core, dropping shocking moments when you were least expecting them. Tara’s death is arguable the most shocking of all, with Willow’s grief and rage transforming her into a terrifying killer fuelled by dark magic. There were plenty of other moments that made us gasp too, from Jenny Calendar’s murder at the hands of Angelus to the gruesome moment Caleb carved out Xander’s eye.

And the show had the ability to pack an emotional punch

The series’ ability to deftly juggle humour and horror also meant the emotional moments really hit you in the gut. We’ve already mentioned the death of Tara, but evil Willow’s breakdown and return to ‘normality’ was another moment that had us reaching for the tissues. When Buffy was crowned class protector, Buffy’s death, resurrected Buffy’s revelation that she was in heaven…



And most notably…

THE BODY

Who would have thought that one of the most powerful depictions of grief on television would come from a show about vampires? The season five episode was low on supernatural drama, focusing entirely on the aftermath of the sudden death of Buffy’s mum. The result is not just one of the best episodes of Buffy, it’s one of the best episodes of any TV show.

The musical episode was a work of genius

Even the cast admitted they were sceptical about an all-musical episode, so plenty of fans were concerned Buffy might have jumped the shark with Once More With Feeling. Thankfully, Joss Whedon’s genius was such the episode ended up being one of the show’s best.

As was the near-silent episode

Again proving that Buffy was often at its best when trying something new, season four’s Hush was another classic. Eschewing the classic Whedon dialogue that had often been so highly praised, most of the episode was entirely silent. The risk paid off, creating a brilliant terrifying episode which bagged an Emmy nomination in the process.

Absolutely terrifying (Picture: 20th Century Fox)

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We loved Willow and Oz

The show excelled at creating romances we were rooting for, with Willow and Oz one of our favourites. We loved guitar-playing werewolf Oz, and we loved Willow and Oz even more.

Then we loved Willow and Tara

Given how invested we were in Willow and Oz, it was to the show’s credit that we ended up rooting for Willow and Tara even more. Having a character previously thought of as straight entering a lesbian relationship could have easily come off as gimmicky, but it was a beautifully played romance that we believed in. R.I.P Tara


Angel was the greatest love interest-turned-villain-turned-love interest ever

Relationships during high school are complicated, relationships between vampire slayers and vampires even more so. His on/off romance with Buffy – and his descent into evil as Angelus – was at the core of the show, until Whedon realised David Boreanaz was good enough to warrant his own show and Angel scuttled off to LA.

Buffy and Angel forever (Picture: 20th Century Fox)

But we also loved Spike too

It’s fair to say Spike had the biggest ‘journey’ of anyone on the show. He started off as the recurring villain we loved to hate, became Buffy’s sex plaything (who can forget when their angry sex resulted in a house falling down?) then ended up sacrificing himself to save the world.

Classic Spike and Buffy (Picture: 20th Century Fox)

We all wanted Giles as our mentor

Giles guided Buffy in his role as her Watcher, but acted more like a general father figure for the entire Scooby Gang. He proved his love for her repeatedly, and ended up getting fired for caring too much.

We all loved Giles (Picture: 20th Century Fox)

And we all wanted to join the Scooby Gang

They might not have been the coolest bunch at Sunnydale High, but we’d choose the Scooby Gang over the popular crowd any day of the week. Fiercely loyal to each other, the friendship between Buffy and the gang formed the backbone of the show.

Don’t even pretend you didn’t want to be in the Scooby Gang (Picture: Rex/20th Century Fox)

The show managed to convincingly add in a new family member five seasons in

While we were initially a little confused when Harriet The Spy suddenly rocked up in Sunnydale, Michelle Trachtenberg managed to pull off being inserted into the Summers clan five seasons in.

Dawn Summers was a late addition to the show (Picture: 20th Century Fox)

And the series looks set to stand the test of time


With its strong female lead, engaging storylines and believable characters, Buffy The Vampire Slayer still stands up to repeat viewings 18 years after it first aired on television. One of the best television shows ever?

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