Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Sunnydale at Christmas is not exactly a snow globe, but the Scooby gang still manage a tree, a mum who insists on inviting Faith round and a quiet moment or two. The trouble is Angel, whose dreams of his dark past are getting worse every night, and something very old and very smug wants him to do the unthinkable. Buffy and Giles have until sunrise to work out what. Joss Whedon wrote and directed this one himself, and it's a heartfelt, spooky winter episode that works even if you've only met these characters this evening. Keep the tissues close and stay for the ending.