UK says goodbye to Friends

Millions of people are cancelling their Friday night out to tune in to the last ever episode of "Friends", set to be broadcast tonight.

11:59 28 May 2004

Millions of people are cancelling their Friday night out to tune in to the last ever episode of "Friends", set to be broadcast tonight.

Channel 4 is lining up a bumper night for viewers - with the final "Friends" followed by the first episode of Big Brother 5.

Expectations are high for UK viewing figures after 51 million Americans tuned in two weeks ago to see if it would all work out for Ross and Rachel, or if Monica and Chandler got their baby.

There is some comfort for fans of the series - Matt LeBlanc (Joey) is taking his character to a new show in LA, and David Schwimmer (Ross) is set to direct.

But this is scant comfort for the generation who have spent the last ten years getting to know Ross, Rachel, Monica, Joey, Chandler, and Phoebe struggle out of their twenties in New York.

Channel 4 has bought new episodes of "The Simpsons" from 20 Century Fox, at $1million each, to replace "Friends" in its traditional 9pm Friday slot.