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Friends fans were left stunned when Netflix announced the beloved sitcom would be axed in December, but the series will return to UK screens in March

Netflix subscribers were left unimpressed after the streaming platform confirmed it would be dropping sitcom Friends from its catalogue in December.

The beloved series, which originally broadcast on NBC from 1994 to 2004, had been available on the platform since 2018, with all ten seasons ready to watch.

Following its departure from the streaming giant on December 30, UK audiences of the iconic 1990s series won’t have to wait long before it returns to their television screens.

Friends, starring Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courtney Cox, Matt Le Blanc, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry, follows the lives of six mates living in New York.

It boasts a staggering 236 episodes, offering fans more than 88 hours of content. At the time, Netflix fans shared the reaction to the show getting removed as one user vented on X: “You cannot take Friends off Netflix. Every night without fail I watch it.”

Echoing these sentiments, a fourth added: ‘How can Netflix be taking Friends off in the UK? Literally the ONLY thing I go onto Netflix everyday for, I watch it non stop back to back, my absolute comfort show, may as well cancel my subscription.’

A fifth concluded: “Genuinely heartbroken Friends is being taken off of Netflix. Best TV show of all time.”

However it’s not all bad as all ten seasons will shortly be available to stream on HBO Max, which launches in the UK on March 26 – having operated stateside since 2020.

The platform, which also streams other popular series including Game of Thrones and Succession, will be accessible in the UK and Ireland from just £4.99.

Beyond Friends, the streaming service will also feature programmes produced by HBO, Warner Bros, DC Studios and Max Originals.

The return of Euphoria, House of the Dragon and The Comeback, alongside the forthcoming Harry Potter TV series, and DC Studios series Lanterns, will all be available on the platform.

Oscar-nominated films Sinners and One Battle Another, which appeared in cinemas last year, will also be offered. HBO-produced shows have previously been available to stream in the UK through Sky and NOW – However, from 26 March onwards, content produced by HBO will be exclusive to HBO Max subscribers.

The two companies have reached an agreement that enables members to bundle both NOW and HBO Max subscriptions together, a change that all NOW Entertainment subscribers will be automatically transitioned to.

This arrangement ensures that HBO Max will be available for streaming in over 10 million households on its launch day.

Friends will be available to stream on HBO Max on its launch on March 26

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Jan. 28 (UPI) — A French court sentenced former Sen. Joel Guerriau to four years in prison after finding him guilty of drugging a minister of the French parliament in November 2023.

Guerrieau, 68, will spend 18 months of his 48-month prison sentence behind bars, but he has appealed the decision and would not be imprisoned if the appellate court overturns his conviction.

The court also ordered him to pay MP Sandrine Josso, 50, the equivalent of $5,975 in the Tuesday ruling.

Guerriau formerly represented the Loire-Atlantique region in western France and was found guilty of spiking a drink with ecstasy and serving it to Josso in November 2023.

Prosecutors accused him of inviting Josso to his flat in Paris and drugging her with the intent of sexually assaulting her, but reports do not indicate whether a sexual assault is alleged in the matter.

Guerriau admitted he spiked her drink but said it was an accident and that he did not intend to commit sexual assault.

Following Tuesday’s verdict, Josso told media that she “had gone to visit a friend” on the night that she was drugged.

Instead of visiting a friend, she said, “I discovered an aggressor,” adding that “he looked at me insistently” and that she never had seen him like that.

“I didn’t want to show him my weakness because I was worried that if I told him I wasn’t feeling well, he would have forced me to lie down,” Josso said.

She left Guerriau’s flat and, with the help of a friend, went to a hospital, which determined her blood contained three times the normal dosage of a recreational MDMA.

Guerriau claimed he had been depressed and was using MDMA to treat it and meant to consume the spiked drink himself.

Instead of drinking it, he told the court that he accidentally served it to Josso, adding that he feels sorry for her.

“I am disgusted with myself, with my recklessness and my stupidity,” Guerriau told the court.

He said not enough is done to discuss “the effects of these drugs enough,” adding that he wants to “speak out on the dangers of these products.”

Guerriau was a member of France’s center-right Horizons Party and was suspended after being charged. He resigned is Senate seat in October.

Josso is a member of France’s center-right MoDem Party and has become a vocal opponent of “chemical submission” after her encounter with Guerriau.