Friends Fans Can Stream It In The UK Again When HBO Max Launches This Week

If you fall into the camp of people who like to stick a classic episode of Friends on while you’re cooking dinner, trying out some new self-care or just catching up on life admin, the last couple of months will no doubt have been a little more difficult than normal.

After seven years, the award-winning sitcom left Netflix UK at the end of December (yes, right before our usual New Year’s Day rewatch of The One With All The Resolutions).

Since then, anyone hoping for a nostalgic trip to Central Park has had to embark on a quest to dig out their old DVD boxset from the 2000s, or schedule an appointment to watch them when they’ve been airing on Comedy Central.

Fortunately, there’s now less than 24 hours to go until Friends is available to stream in the UK again – albeit with a new home.

Thursday 26 March will mark the UK launch of the platform HBO Max, which has been the US streaming home of Friends since the service premiered across the pond in 2020 (notably, HBO Max was also responsible for the show’s much-hyped reunion special, which aired in 2021 after numerous delays due to the Covid pandemic).

Existing Now customers will be given immediate access to an ad-supported version of HBO Max, while new users will have four different payment options if they want to use the service.

HBO Max will give its users on-demand access to some of HBO’s most popular original series ever, including Sex And The City, The Sopranos, Succession and Game Of Thrones.

It will also mean British viewers are able to stream The Pitt for the first time.

The Pitt has been a huge hit with American audiences since it premiered on HBO Max last year, cleaning up at the Golden Globes, Emmys, Actor Awards and Critics’ Choice Awards.

Other exciting additions to HBO Max include the award-winning comedy Hacks, which will premiere its last season later this year, and the third and final iteration of The Comeback, starring Friends alum Lisa Kudrow as the iconic anti-heroine Valerie Cherish.