Final Friends watched by 8.6 million Britons

A record 8.6 million UK viewers tuned in to watch the final episode of hit US comedy Friends.

11:33 30 May 2004

A record 8.6 million UK viewers tuned in to watch the final episode of hit US comedy Friends on Friday night.

The final hour-long episode of the ten year series saw central characters Ross and Rachel get together in the final minutes, while Monica and Chandler witnessed the birth of their adopted twins and Phoebe and Mike decided to start trying for a baby.

Screened on Channel 4 before the first episode of this summer's Big Brother, the network claimed that more than a third of the UK's TV viewers tuned into the show, beating the previous highest rating episode of Friends by 2.1 million viewers.

At the height of the hour-long broadcast, between 21:00 and 22:00 BST, an estimated 8.9 million viewers were watching, according to Channel 4, making it the channel's most watched programme of the year.

Friends stars Matt LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow and Courtney Cox Arquette became millionaires as a result of the show's phenomenal success.

The final Friends was watched by an audience of 51.1 million Americans when it aired in the US earlier this month.

Friends actor Matt Le Blanc, who plays actor Joey Tribbiani, has signed up for his own spin-off series, which sees him moving to Los Angeles and trying to make it in the movies.