Buffy the Vampire Slayer (franchise)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an American television series created by Joss Whedon. It is about a young woman named Buffy who was chosen by mystical forces to be the Slayer, fighting vampires and other demons with her team of friends. The television series ran from 1997 to 2003, and a continuation comic book series began its run in 2007, in which The Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler made a cameo appearence in No Future for You Part One alongside a red telephone box.

The use of a red telephone box would be a symbol of both the TARDIS, (the TARDIS itself would infringe on the BBC's copyright) as well as the fact that Doctor Who is British.

Similarities

• Both series have a spin-off series, darker in tone, in which an immortal protagonist moves to a city in order to protect the public from things they often cannot comprehend, Torchwood and Angel.
• The Cardiff rift is a plot generator for Torchwood, in the same way that the Hellmouth is in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Both series' also have episodes entitled 'End of Days'.
• An ancient vampire shares the same name as the recurring villian the Master.
• The Buffy episode "Go Fish" featured fish-like demons that resemble the Silurians.
• Doctor Who stories State of Decay, The Curse of Fenric and Smith and Jones included vampire-like aliens. The Vampires of Venice specifically references them, although it is revealed that the 'vampires' are actually Saturnynians.
• The audio drama Minuet in Hell also has several similarities. Firstly, it features an organisation, fronted by a young girl, dedicated to dealing with supernatural beings in a similar way to the Watchers Council and the Slayer. Added to this, the use of the phrase "Bored now" before attacking someone is also seen in the 'Buffy' episodes The Wish, Doppelgängland, and Villains. It also features technology that can digitise and replace peoples memories and brain waves in a way similar to that seen in Whedon's later series, Dollhouse.

Connections with Doctor Who

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The Doctor and Rose appear in No Future For You.

• Anthony Stewart Head, who plays Buffy's mentor and father figure Rupert Giles, has many connections to Doctor Who. He guest starred in School Reunion and The Infinite Quest, as well as various Big Finish Productions audio dramas, and also narrated Doctor Who Confidential and Project Who. He has often been reported as a potential candidate for the role of the Doctor.
• It has been acknowledged that some of the dialogue in School Reunion, such as Finch's line "ignore the shooty-dog thing" was inspired by the style of writing used on Buffy.
• The 2001 Buffy episode "Smashed" references the series when Andrew mentions he has seen "every episode of Doctor Who".
• Russell T Davies has mentioned that the Buffy episode "The Zeppo" was a possible influence on the Doctor Who episode Love & Monsters.
• Buffy creator Joss Whedon also wrote and directed Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, which ended Steven Moffat's "juggernaut" Hugo Award winning streak.
• Joss Whedon expressed admiration for Russell T. Davies while speaking as part of the Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog panel at the 2008 Comic-Con.
• A reference to the series is made in ST: Homework, where a character from the year 2008 is said to be wearing 'a T-shirt that said Duffy the Vampire or something'.
• "William the Bloody Awful Poet", the former human self of the vampire Spike, briefly appears in Camera Obscura.
• Although unlikely to be made, a potential spin-off titled Ripper has been discussed as a BBC co-production, during which Anthony Head introduced Whedon to Doctor Who producer Julie Gardner.

Connections with Torchwood

• James Marsters, who played the vampire Spike, appeared in three episodes of Torchwood Series 2 episodes as Captain John Hart.
• Robin Sachs, who played the evil sorceror Ethan Rayne, appeared in The New World as an unnamed professor.
• Eliza Dushku, who played Buffy's sometime rival Faith, was the voice of Holly Mokri in Torchwood: Web of Lies.
• As Series 4 UK/USA co-production, many of the new crew also worked on Buffy and/or its spin-off Angel. The most prominant is probably writer Jane Espenson, and also costume designer Shawna Trpcic, producer Kelly Manners, and chief of makeup Todd McIntosh.
• On the Torchwood website, one of the creatures described by Owen Harper as being in stasis in the Torchwood morgue is the "Invincible Vampire", which reconstitutes itself after it is "dusted". "Dusted" is terminology from Buffy for the slaying of a vampire.

External Links

• Buffyverse wiki, a wiki focusing on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, its spin-offs, and expanded media.
• Doctor Who page on the Buffyverse wiki