David Boreanaz (c) stars as the vampire with a soul

Cult vampire series Angel will gets its first terrestrial airing on Five after Channel 4 decided to ditch it from its schedules.

The channel acquired the rights to series three and four from Twentieth Century Fox.

Five is to give it a prominent weekend slot with the first episode of series three to air on 2 June at 2000 BST.

Angel, a spin-off from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, sees the dark and brooding vampire with a soul move to Los Angeles to save the world from monsters and demons.

Angel, starring David Boreanaz, is darker than Buffy and Channel 4 ran into trouble by first screening it in a 6pm slot which led to complaints because of the violence and adult themes.

The channel then shunted it into a late night slot where it struggled in the ratings.

Commission

Sky One, which also premi�res Buffy, will still continue to show new episodes of Angel before they appear on Five. The satellite channel is currently running series four.

Sarah Michelle Gellar did not want to continue with Buffy

Angel creator Joss Whedon recently revealed that Angel has been commissioned for a fifth series, ending rumours that it would be axed.

But fans will be seeing the last of Buffy as the show's star Sarah Michelle Gellar confirmed the seventh series would be its last.

The final episode will be shown in the US on 20 May wrapping up six years of adventures for the slayer.

Five has been buying up a number of US shows including Dawson's Creek, Alias and The Shield.