Angel

"If you need help, then look no further. Angel Investigations is the best. Our rates are low but our standards are high. When the chips are down, and you're at the end of your rope you need someone that you can count on. And that's what you'll find here, someone that will go all the way, no matter what. So don't lose hope. Come on over to our offices and you'll see that there's still heroes in this world."

Angelus was one of the most vicious vampires in the history of the world. For years he traveled the world causing pain, chaos and destruction everywhere that he went. This all ended one night, when he killed the wrong gypsy girl. Her enraged family cursed Angelus by returning to him his soul. They wanted him to suffer and atone for his sins. Now a vampire with a soul, forever living with his guilt, he has a new lifes mission: to help the helpless.

Angel, the spin-off to the popular series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, premiered in October of 1999. 

After leaving behind his girlfriend Buffy and his old life in Sunnydale, Angel moves to LA, the city of angels. With the help of a few friends, he goes into the business of saving the innocent from vampires, demons and any other force of evil the city can throw at them. 

Angel was not renewed for a sixth season. The WB decided to cancel it during its fifth season, citing low ratings for repeat episodes and high production costs. Even though there was a huge internet campaign and some small protests outside the WB Headquarters the Network executives declined to renew the show.

Angel's DVD sales with 20th Century Fox did moderately well. This encouraged Fox to keep producing the show despite the WB's decision to cancel and to pay less for each fifth season episode. Angel was expensive make, which is why there were fewer features in the fifth season as the previous four seasons had.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

At the young age of 15, Buffy Summers was chosen to hunt vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness. Joined by friends Willow and Xander and her watcher Giles, Buffy fights the challenges of High School and saves the world...a lot.

"In every generation there is a chosen one... she alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the slayer." Buffy Summers knows this tale by heart, and no matter how hard she tries to be just a "normal girl", she can not escape from her destiny... Thankfully, she is not alone in her quest to save the world, as she has the help of her friends, the hilarious (and surprisingly quite effective) evil-fighting team called "The Scooby Gang". Together, Buffy & co. will slay their demons, survive one apocalypse after another, attend high school and college... and above all, understand that growing up can truly be Hell sometimes... literally.

The Secret Circle

The Secret Circle

16-year-old Cassie moves from California to live with her grandmother in Chance Harbor, Washington, and falls in love with a mysterious boy named Adam. But, when she enrolls in high school there, she realizes that he, she and all the other elite students at the school are witches. She befriends their leader, Diana, but soon discovers that Adam and Diana are dating, which leads to drama.

Grimm

Grimm

Grimm" is a drama series inspired by the classic Grimm's Fairy Tales. Remember the fairy tales your parents used to tell you before bedtime? Those weren’t stories -- they were warnings. Nick Burkhardt (David Guintoli) thought he prepared himself for the realities of working as a homicide detective until he started seeing things he couldn’t quite explain. When his ailing Aunt Marie (Kate Burton) arrives, Nick's life turns upside down when she reveals they are descendants of an elite group of hunters, also known as "Grimms," who fight to keep the balance of humanity safe from the supernatural creatures of the world. As Nick digs deeper into her past, he realizes that he will have to shoulder the responsibility of his ancestors -- and contend with a larger-than-life mythology of the Brothers Grimm that is now all too real. Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch, Silas Weir Mitchell, Reggie Lee and Sasha Roiz also star.

Terra Nova

Terra Nova

Take some of Avatar, mix with Jurassic Park and toss in a little bit of Lost for good measure, and that’s about what Fox’s new series Terra Nova looks like. We got our first glimpse at this new series back in February, but Fox has just released a new trailer that gives us a better idea of the size and scope of the story. Showing us both the world our characters leave behind and the new world where humanity hopes to start with a clean slate. Despite the more gritty, thrilling and dramatic tone of the series, I can’t help but also see a comparison to Land of the Lost.  Hopefully there won’t be any Sleestaks showing up. The series was supposed to have a sneak preview premiere event in May, but that’s since been delayed until sometime this fall. In the meantime, check out the new trailer and the official series synopsis after the jump

Death Valley

Death Valley

This one’s a hit and it lives on MTV. A familiar theme (vampires, zombies, werewolves) that is presented in a half hour hilarious way. I love the humor and accepted way of life this series assumes. A half hour seems way too short, but I’m loving what I see. Think “Reno 911″ meets “True Blood”. Ok, well maybe that’s a stretch. In any case it’s good to see MTV stepping up to the horror plate with a solid series for the genre.

Being Human

Being Human

This week saw the return of the eternally puerile teen vampire Adam (Craig Roberts). As usual his crude innuendo was amusing for everyone except the other characters. Although it was uncertain as to whether his school mistress lover, Yvonne Bradshaw (Selina Griffiths), was completely adverse to his vulgar discourse.

‘Hold the Front Page’ illustrated Roberts’ versatility, showing that he is adept as a comedian but can play it straight. The scene where Adam and Yvonne reconciled was touching and there was a genuine desire to see these two characters get back together. It felt like there was a real connection between Adam and Yvonne and the age gap seemed to wither away. Although their relationship is an odd one, it was very tender and suggested that there can be some happy endings when it comes to supernatural creatures and finding love.

Both of these characters are lonely and they need each other, much in the same way that Annie, Hal and Tom are together for companionship. Even Succubi lead lonely lives considering that they suck the life out of their partner mid coitus. In a sense Adam and Yvonne have saved each other and bring out the best in one another. It was moving to watch Yvonne coming to terms with what she was and contemplating whether she even had a soul, it was certainly an interesting and original idea. The introduction of a new supernatural being reiterates that the ‘Being Human’ universe is only getting bigger. Given that Yvonne is a Succubus, the daughter of a human and a demon, it then follows that there must be demons out there as well. It seems that hell is slowly being let loose.

The other storyline running through the episode involved Cutler and Pete (Sacha Dhawan) the vampire-obsessed journalist. Although Pete initially appeared to be a stereotypical, muck-racking hack it emerged that there was more to his character. He had a similar back story to Kemp (Donald Sumpter), the priest from Series 2, who lost his loved ones due to a vampire attack. Both Pete and Kemp’s tragic stories suggest that it is vampires rather than werewolves that are dangerous. Vampires kill intentionally and indiscriminately for pleasure and gratification while werewolves do not. It is now clear that Cutler wants to portray werewolves as the ‘real’ villains. Will the world soon discover the existence of supernatural beings? Is this how the war against the vampires begins?

Just like ‘A Spectre Calls’, the guest actors all gave good performances this week, particularly Roberts and Griffiths. For those seeking a little bit more action from everyone’s favourite teen vampire should watch ‘Becoming Human’ which is an online series from the makers of ‘Being Human’. This episode also saw another great turn by Michael Socha as Tom who proved to be just as endearing as last time. Each week Socha is moving further and further away from the typecast of a young man with a troubled upbringing and he is showing that he can do comedy as well as gritty drama.

Next week Cutler’s werewolf video has gone viral and more werewolves are coming out of the woodworks, including one called Allison (Ellie Kendrick). Meanwhile Hal is visited by an old friend Alex (Kate Bracken) who seems to be unaware that he is a vampire and tests his blood lust. As the series goes on Hal seems to be slowly losing control, will he eventually succumb and kill Eve in the process?