Believe it or not, it's been 30 whole years since Friends exploded onto our TV screens, resulting in Ross-and-Rachel dominating water cooler chat for the ten years that followed. It's hard to express just how much of a cultural phenomena Friends was. It rocketed stars including Jennifer Aniston , Courtney Cox and David Schwimmer into global fame, the shackles of which they would never quite shake off.
The show's finale was an event in itself, with 8.6 million of us in the UK tuning in. Aged 15, I watched it on the sofa with my mum on a Friday night at 9pm, which tells you everything you need to know about how well my teenage social life was going.
The show is baked into my cultural memory, thanks to several well worn VHS tapes. Seeing so much of Tom Selleck (Monica's boyfriend Richard) and his moustache at such an impressionable age I think forever altered my brain chemistry. The show offered an exciting glimpse outside of small town life as a perpetually bored teenager.
Watching it as an adult, I was struck by how relatable the first few series are, as the gang try to make their way in the world, dancing between bad jobs and bad dates. Those vital years - the characters are ages 25 and 26 as Series 1 takes off - where you're working out your place in life. Hearts broke the world over when Matthew Perry died last year.
Watching him in those early series, you see a young, vibrant, insanely talented man with comic timing that would inspire a generation. Often described as the u.