Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Showing on Saturday, Jan 24
Sanguine fest for Buffy buffs

Slayerfest 6
Noon, Fox 8
IT has been a strange few months for Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans, since the show about a girl destined to protect the world from vampires and demons - even when she’d rather be doing something else - ended last year. It’s most noticeable on the internet, where Buffy mania reigned for years. Online discussions have petered out and remaining energies have focused on the spin-off, Angel.

However, it’s not all over. There are seven whole seasons of the show to watch and rewatch, and Slayerfests, during which Fox 8 runs a season’s worth of Buffy episodes back-to-back, this time for the Australia Day long weekend, offer a chance to get a grip on the show’s notoriously complex plots.

This sixth season was probably the most controversial. Its original airing sparked some debate over whether the whole thing should have been axed at the end of the fifth season, when Buffy died.

That series saw the arrival of Buffy’s 15-year-old sister, Dawn, and the death of her mother, topped off with the arrival of the biggest "big bad" the slayer had ever faced: a very vain and slightly crazy god.

In the end, Buffy sacrificed herself to save her younger sister, and the rest of the world, from destruction.

Her resurrection at the beginning of this Slayerfest sees Buffy despondent about being yanked from a peaceful afterlife to face worldlier horrors.

There is always a fine line between the heroes and villains in Buffy, but the sixth season takes moral ambiguity to new heights. Buffy gets involved in an unromantic sexual relationship with the partly reformed vampire Spike; her best friend Willow struggles with an addiction to magic; and fellow long-time buddy Xander has serious premarital jitters.

But there are some fun moments.The musical episode, Once More with Feeling, showcases Buffy creator Joss Whedon’s talent for the audacious.

Ironically, it’s probably as good a time as any for Buffy to find a new audience, after struggling for the widespread acclaim the show deserves. Now that the hype is over, but not too far in the distance, a few pay TV repeat fests could be just the thing.

 Kate Mackenzie