Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Observer - UK

Published: April 21 2004 22:28 | Last Updated: April 21 2004 22:28

Buffy and the mandarin slayers

There are those who believe that the Treasury is full of bloodsuckers draining the life from the British economy. But they couldn’t be more wrong, according to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For those not familiar with the cult TV show, blonde American Buffy battles vampires despite the well-meaning British bureaucrats at the Watchers’ Council, who keep trying to interfere.

In the latest - and, thankfully, last - series the council’s headquarters in London are shown from the outside for the first time and turn out to be the Treasury building off Whitehall. The producers obviously thought it a suitable setting for meddling bureaucrats.

The lingering shot of an explosion that wiped out the Watchers in the series has been carefully studied by Treasury officials, and it seems the office of Ed Balls, Gordon Brown’s chief economic adviser, is the target. Perhaps those behind the show are in the pay of Number 10. Either way, the Treasury insists there are "absolutely no" vampires in its offices.