DVDs

DVD-Video

DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder...

 of the television show Angel

Angel (TV series)

Angel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...

were produced by 20th Century Fox

20th Century Fox

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...

 and released beginning in 2001. These sets contained not only the episodes, but extra features, such as: audio commentaries

Audio commentary

On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...

 by the shows makers, documentary features

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

, blooper reels

Blooper

A blooper, also known as an outtake or boner is a short sequence of a film or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or news report, usually in terms of misspoken words...

, shooting script

Shooting script

A shooting script is the version of a screenplay used during the production of a motion picture. Shooting scripts are distinct from spec scripts in that they make use of scene numbers , and they follow a well defined set of procedures specifying how script revisions should be implemented and...

s and so on.

Release dates

DVD	| Original release date
	Region 1	Region 2
The Complete First Season	February 11, 2003	December 10, 2001
The Complete Second Season	September 2, 2003	April 15, 2002
The Complete Third Season	February 10, 2004	March 3, 2003
The Complete Fourth Season	September 7, 2004	March 1, 2004
The Complete Fifth Season	February 15, 2005	February 21, 2005

Differences between versions

The Angel DVD sets were released in at least three encoding formats:

• Region 1 (United States and Canada), in NTSC
  NTSC
  NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
  
   format
• Region 2 (United Kingdom and Europe), in PAL
  PAL
  PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
  
   format
• Region 4 (Australia and New Zealand), in PAL format

Unlike the Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs

Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs

DVDs of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer were produced by 20th Century Fox and released beginning in 2000. As well as containing the episodes, the DVD sets have extra features such as: audio commentaries by the show's producers, documentary features, blooper reels, and shooting...

, the choice of widescreen versus standard screen does not vary by region. In all regions, season one of Angel is presented in the standard format (4:3), and seasons two through five are presented in widescreen (16:9). This matches the way the show itself was broadcast from seasons 3-5, although in the U.S. season 2 was presented as standard format but was changed to widescreen for the DVD. This change did lead to some issues on the season 2 DVD release, such as instances where objects that would have remained outside of the broadcast image on the standard format become apparent, creating evident mistakes (e.g. Angel's usually-invisible reflection being visible in the extremities of a number of shots in the first episode).

Aside from the region encoding (and the packaging), the Region 2 and Region 4 DVDs are identical. However, there are several content differences between the Region 1 DVDs and the Region 2 and 4 DVDs.

Scenes from previous episodes

The Region 2 and 4 DVDs (except Season 1) include the scenes from previous episodes ("Previously on Angel") at the beginning of each episode; the Region 1 DVDs do not, except in Season 5.

Subtitles

In the Region 2 and 4 releases, episodes with commentaries include two English subtitles: the show itself, and the commentary. The Region 1 releases do not offer subtitles for the commentaries.

The Region 1 DVDs also offer a smaller choice of non-English languages subtitles than the Region 2 and 4 DVDs.

Disc 1

Episodes

• Episode 1: "City of"
• Episode 2: "Lonely Hearts"
• Episode 3: "In the Dark"
• Episode 4: "I Fall to Pieces"

Special features

• Commentary on "City of" by co-writer/director Joss Whedon
  Joss Whedon
  Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
  
   and co-writer David Greenwalt
  David Greenwalt
  David Greenwalt is an American screenwriter, director and producer.He was the co-executive producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and co-creator of its spinoff, Angel. He is also co-creator of the short-lived cult television show Profit...
  
  

Disc 2

Episodes

• Episode 5: "Rm w/a Vu"
• Episode 6: "Sense & Sensitivity"
• Episode 7: "Bachelor Party"
• Episode 8: "I Will Remember You"

Special features

• Commentary on "Rm w/a Vu" by writer Jane Espenson
  Jane Espenson
  Jane Espenson is an American script writer and television producer who has worked on both situation comedies and serial dramas. She had a five-year stint as a writer and producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and shared a Hugo Award for her writing on the episode "Conversations with Dead People"...
  
  

Disc 3

Episodes

• Episode 9: "Hero"
• Episode 10: "Parting Gifts"
• Episode 11: "Somnambulist"

Special features

• Featurette: "Season 1"
• Cast Bios
• Still Gallery

Disc 4

Episodes

• Episode 12: "Expecting"
• Episode 13: "She"
• Episode 14: "I've Got You Under My Skin"
• Episode 15: "The Prodigal"

Disc 5

Episodes

• Episode 16: "The Ring"
• Episode 17: "Eternity"
• Episode 18: "Five by Five"
• Episode 19: "Sanctuary
  Sanctuary (Angel episode)
  "Sanctuary" is episode 19 of season 1 in the television show Angel. Co-written by Tim Minear and series creator Joss Whedon and directed by Michael Lange, it was originally broadcast on May 2, 2000 on the WB network....
  
  "

Special features

• Script for "Five by Five" and "Sanctuary"

Disc 6

Episodes

• Episode 20: "War Zone"
• Episode 21: "Blind Date"
• Episode 22: "To Shanshu in L.A."

Special features

• Featurette: "I'm Cordelia"
• Featurette: "Introducing Angel"
• Featurette: "The Demons"

Disc 1

Episodes

• Episode 1: "Judgment"
• Episode 2: "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been"
• Episode 3: "First Impressions"
• Episode 4: "Untouched"

Special features

• Commentary on "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" by writer Tim Minear
  Tim Minear
  Tim Minear is an American screenwriter and director. He was born in New York, grew up in Whittier, California, and studied film at California State University, Long Beach....
  
  

Disc 2

Episodes

• Episode 5: "Dear Boy"
• Episode 6: "Guise Will Be Guise"
• Episode 7: "Darla
  Darla (Angel episode)
  "Darla" is episode 7 of season 2 in the television show Angel. Written and directed by Tim Minear, it was originally broadcast on November 14, 2000 on the WB television network. In this episode, Angel tries to rescue Darla from the clutches of Wolfram & Hart and Lindsey's affections, as she...
  
  "
• Episode 8: "The Shroud of Rahmon"

Special features

• Script for "Darla"

Disc 3

Episodes

• Episode 9: "The Trial"
• Episode 10: "Reunion"
• Episode 11: "Redefinition"

Special features

• Featurette: "Making up the Monsters"
• Featurette: "Inside the Agency"
• Still Gallery
• Blue Prints

Disc 4

Episodes

• Episode 12: "Blood Money"
• Episode 13: "Happy Anniversary"
• Episode 14: "The Thin Dead Line"
• Episode 15: "Reprise"

Disc 5

Episodes

• Episode 16: "Epiphany"
• Episode 17: "Disharmony"
• Episode 18: "Dead End"
• Episode 19: "Belonging"

Special features

• Script for "Disharmony"

Disc 6

Episodes

• Episode 20: "Over the Rainbow"
• Episode 21: "Through the Looking Glass"
• Episode 22: "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb"

Special features

• Commentary on "Over the Rainbow" by director Fred Keller
• Featurette: "Stunts"
• Featurette: "Season 2 Overview"

Disc 1

Episodes

• Episode 1: "Heartthrob"
• Episode 2: "That Vision Thing"
• Episode 3: "That Old Gang of Mine"
• Episode 4: "Carpe Noctem"

Disc 2

Episodes

• Episode 5: "Fredless"
• Episode 6: "Billy"
• Episode 7: "Offspring"
• Episode 8: "Quickening"

Special features

• Commentary on "Billy" by writers Tim Minear
  Tim Minear
  Tim Minear is an American screenwriter and director. He was born in New York, grew up in Whittier, California, and studied film at California State University, Long Beach....
  
   and Jeffrey Bell

Disc 3

Episodes

• Episode 9: "Lullaby"
• Episode 10: "Dad"
• Episode 11: "Birthday"

Special features

• Commentary on "Lullaby" by writer/director Tim Minear
  Tim Minear
  Tim Minear is an American screenwriter and director. He was born in New York, grew up in Whittier, California, and studied film at California State University, Long Beach....
  
   and Mere Smith
  Mere Smith
  Mere Smith is a American television script-writer who wrote a number of episodes of the series Angel. She was also the executive story editor and script coordinator for 66 episodes from 1999 to 2003....
  
  
• Deleted scenes from "Birthday" with commentary by Tim Minear and Mere Smith
• Featurette: "Darla: Deliver Us From Evil"
• Angel Series Outtakes

Disc 4

Episodes

• Episode 12: "Provider"
• Episode 13: "Waiting in the Wings"
• Episode 14: "Couplet"
• Episode 15: "Loyalty"

Special features

• Commentary on "Waiting in the Wings" writer/director by Joss Whedon
  Joss Whedon
  Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
  
  
• Deleted scenes from "Waiting in the Wings" with commentary by Joss Whedon

Disc 5

Episodes

• Episode 16: "Sleep Tight"
• Episode 17: "Forgiving"
• Episode 18: "Double or Nothing"
• Episode 19: "The Price"

Disc 6

Episodes

• Episode 20: "A New World"
• Episode 21: "Benediction"
• Episode 22: "Tomorrow"

Special features

• Featurette: "Season 3 Overview"
• Featurette: "Page to Screen"
• Screen Tests: Amy Acker
  Amy Acker
  Amy Louise Acker is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on the television series Angel as Winifred Burkle and Illyria and on Alias as Kelly Peyton. She is also known for her role as Dr. Claire Saunders/Whiskey on Dollhouse.-Early life:Acker was born and raised in Dallas, where she...
  
   and Vincent Kartheiser
  Vincent Kartheiser
  Vincent Paul Kartheiser is an American actor known for playing Connor in Angel and Pete Campbell in Mad Men.-Early life:Kartheiser was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Janet Marie and James Ralph Kartheiser...
  
  
• Still Gallery

Disc 1

Episodes

• Episode 1: "Deep Down"
• Episode 2: "Ground State
  Ground state
  The ground state of a quantum mechanical system is its lowest-energy state; the energy of the ground state is known as the zero-point energy of the system. An excited state is any state with energy greater than the ground state...
  
  "
• Episode 3: "The House Always Wins"
• Episode 4: "Slouching Toward Bethlehem"

Special features

• Commentary on "The House Always Wins" by writer David Fury
  David Fury
  David Fury is an American television Screenwriter and Producer, best known for his work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Lost, 24, and Fringe.Fury was a Co-executive producer and Writer for the first season of Lost...
  
   and actor Andy Hallett
  Andy Hallett
  Andrew Alcott "Andy" Hallett was an American singer and actor best known for playing the part of Lorne in the television series Angel. He used his singing talents often on the show, and performed two songs on the series' 2005 soundtrack album, Angel: Live Fast, Die Never.-Early life:Andrew Alcott...
  
  

Disc 2

Episodes

• Episode 5: "Supersymmetry"
• Episode 6: "Spin the Bottle"
• Episode 7: "Apocalypse, Nowish"
• Episode 8: "Habeas Corpses"

Special features

• Commentary on "Spin the Bottle" by writer/director Joss Whedon
  Joss Whedon
  Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
  
   and actor Alexis Denisof
  Alexis Denisof
  Alexis Denisof is an American actor who is known for playing Wesley Wyndam-Pryce in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel.-Early life:...
  
  
• Commentary on "Apocalypse, Nowish" by director Vern Gillum
  Vern Gillum
  Vern Gillum is an American television director.His most notable directorial work includes a number of episodes from each of the television series The Big Easy, The Untouchables, Miami Vice, Angel, Profiler, Law & Order and Pros and Cons...
  
   and writer Steven S. DeKnight
  Steven S. DeKnight
  Steven S. DeKnight is an American television screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for working on Smallville, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel. He has also written "Swell", a story in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season eight comic series, and served as a consulting producer...
  
  
• Featurette: "Angel and the Apocalypse"

Disc 3

Episodes

• Episode 9: "Long Day's Journey"
• Episode 10: "Awakening"
• Episode 11: "Soulless"

Disc 4

Episodes

• Episode 12: "Calvary"
• Episode 13: "Salvage"
• Episode 14: "Release"
• Episode 15: "Orpheus"

Special features

• Commentary on "Orpheus" by director Terrence O'Hara
  Terrence O'Hara
  Terrence O'Hara is an American director and actor. He has worked on Smallville, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and Voyagers! as well as many other programs.-Director:* Dollhouse ** The Unit * Sons Of Anarchy...
  
   and co-executive producer Jeffrey Bell

Disc 5

Episodes

• Episode 16: "Players"
• Episode 17: "Inside Out"
• Episode 18: "Shiny Happy People"
• Episode 19: "The Magic Bullet"

Special features

• Commentary on "Inside Out" by writer/director Steven S. DeKnight
  Steven S. DeKnight
  Steven S. DeKnight is an American television screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for working on Smallville, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel. He has also written "Swell", a story in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season eight comic series, and served as a consulting producer...
  
  
• Commentary on "The Magic Bullet" by writer/director Jeffrey Bell

Disc 6

Episodes

• Episode 20: "Sacrifice"
• Episode 21: "Peace Out"
• Episode 22: "Home"

Special features

• Commentary for "Home" by writer/director Tim Minear
  Tim Minear
  Tim Minear is an American screenwriter and director. He was born in New York, grew up in Whittier, California, and studied film at California State University, Long Beach....
  
  
• Featurette: "Prophesies: Season Four Overview"
• Unplugged: Season Four Outtakes"
• Featurette: "Last Looks: The Hyperion Hotel"
• Featurette: "Fatal Beauty and the Beast"
• Featurette: "Malice In Wonderland: Wolfram & Hart"

Disc 1

Episodes

• Episode 1: "Conviction"
• Episode 2: "Just Rewards"
• Episode 3: "Unleashed"
• Episode 4: "Hell Bound"

Special features

• Commentary on "Conviction" by writer/director Joss Whedon
  Joss Whedon
  Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
  
  
• "Hey Kids! It's Smile Time" featurette

Disc 2

Episodes

• Episode 5: "Life of the Party"
• Episode 6: "The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco"
• Episode 7: "Lineage"
• Episode 8: "Destiny"

Special features

• Commentary on "Destiny" by director Skip Schoolnik
  Skip Schoolnik
  Stuart “Skip” Schoolnik is a film director, producer and editor who received his degree from the University of Connecticut and currently resides in California....
  
  , writers David Fury
  David Fury
  David Fury is an American television Screenwriter and Producer, best known for his work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Lost, 24, and Fringe.Fury was a Co-executive producer and Writer for the first season of Lost...
  
   and Steven S. Deknight
  Steven S. DeKnight
  Steven S. DeKnight is an American television screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for working on Smallville, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel. He has also written "Swell", a story in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season eight comic series, and served as a consulting producer...
  
  , and actress Juliet Landau
  Juliet Landau
  Juliet Rose Landau is an American actress best known for her role as Drusilla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff show Angel, the latter appearance earning her a Saturn Award nomination. She is also known for co-starring as Loretta King Hadler in Tim Burton's Ed Wood.She has appeared in a...
  
  

Disc 3

Episodes

• Episode 9: "Harm's Way"
• Episode 10: "Soul Purpose"
• Episode 11: "Damage"

Special features

• Commentary on "Soul Purpose" by actor/director David Boreanaz
  David Boreanaz
  David Boreanaz is an American actor, television producer, and director, known for his role as Angel on the supernatural drama series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, and as Special Agent Seeley Booth on the television crime drama Bones....
  
  , writer Brent Fletcher
  Brent Fletcher
  Brent Fletcher is an American television writer. He has worked on television series such as Lost and Angel.He was a freelance writer for the first season of Lost...
  
  , and actor Christian Kane
  Christian Kane
  Christian Kane is an American actor and singer/songwriter of Native American descent. He currently stars as Eliot Spencer on the TNT series Leverage. He is best known for his roles in the television shows Angel and Into the West, and the movies Just Married and Secondhand Lions.He is the lead...
  
  

Disc 4

Episodes

• Episode 12: "You're Welcome"
• Episode 13: "Why We Fight"
• Episode 14: "Smile Time"
• Episode 15: "A Hole in the World"

Special features

• Commentary on "You're Welcome" by writer/director David Fury
  David Fury
  David Fury is an American television Screenwriter and Producer, best known for his work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Lost, 24, and Fringe.Fury was a Co-executive producer and Writer for the first season of Lost...
  
  , and actors Christian Kane
  Christian Kane
  Christian Kane is an American actor and singer/songwriter of Native American descent. He currently stars as Eliot Spencer on the TNT series Leverage. He is best known for his roles in the television shows Angel and Into the West, and the movies Just Married and Secondhand Lions.He is the lead...
  
   and Sarah Thompson
• Commentary on "A Hole in the World" by writer/director Joss Whedon
  Joss Whedon
  Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
  
  , and actors Amy Acker
  Amy Acker
  Amy Louise Acker is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on the television series Angel as Winifred Burkle and Illyria and on Alias as Kelly Peyton. She is also known for her role as Dr. Claire Saunders/Whiskey on Dollhouse.-Early life:Acker was born and raised in Dallas, where she...
  
   and Alexis Denisof
  Alexis Denisof
  Alexis Denisof is an American actor who is known for playing Wesley Wyndam-Pryce in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel.-Early life:...
  
  
• "Angel 100" featurette

Disc 5

Episodes

• Episode 16: "Shells"
• Episode 17: "Underneath"
• Episode 18: "Origin"
• Episode 19: "Time Bomb"

Special features

• Commentary on "Underneath" by director Skip Schoolnik
  Skip Schoolnik
  Stuart “Skip” Schoolnik is a film director, producer and editor who received his degree from the University of Connecticut and currently resides in California....
  
  , writers Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain
  Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain
  Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain are American television screenwriters and producers, mostly working together as partners. They have also written two young-adult fiction novels together.Craft is married to producer Adam Fierro.- Angel :...
  
  , and actor Adam Baldwin
  Adam Baldwin
  Adam Baldwin is an American actor, known for his roles as Animal Mother in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Ricky Linderman in My Bodyguard, Knowle Rohrer in The X-Files, and Marcus Hamilton in Joss Whedon's Angel...
  
  
• "Angel: Choreography of a Stunt" featurette

Disc 6

Episodes

• Episode 20: "The Girl in Question"
• Episode 21: "Power Play"
• Episode 22: "Not Fade Away"

Special features

• Commentary on "Not Fade Away" by co-writer/director Jeffrey Bell
• Featurette: "Angel: The Final Season"
• Featurette: "To Live & Die in L.A.: The Best of Angel"
• Featurette: "Halos & Horns: Recurring Villainy"
• Featurette: "Angel Unbound: The Gag Reels"

Collections

The complete series box set of Angel (seasons 1-5) was released in the UK on October 30, 2006. They have also been released in Australia, in 4 episode, half season, full season, and complete series box sets.

The Angel season box sets were also re-released in the UK at a lower price point and in cheaper plastic boxes. Seasons 1 and 2 were released on October 3, 2005; seasons 3 and 4 on March 6, 2006; and season 5 on May 8, 2006.
The Region 1 Angel Collector's Set was released on October 30, 2007, with a newly packaged re-release following on October 12, 2010.

As with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Region 2 character-based releases, several Angel DVDs, based around individual characters have been released, under the banner "The Vampire Anthology." This collection includes DVD's themed around Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn and Fred.

Release dates

• "Buffy DVD and VHS" Bbc.co.uk (2004). Reveals UK release dates.
• "Angel Season 5" Amazon (2005).
• "DVD details for Angel" Imdb (2006).