How to watch ALL episodes of Friends with a VPN

How to watch Friends in the UK

Ever since 2026 landed, Friends has left Netflix – the only real streaming service to have the whole show.

That means if you want to watch it right now, the only way is to buy the seasons on Prime Video, YouTube, and Apple TV. However, the good news is that HBO Max is expected to launch in the UK later this year, so those who subscribe to the streaming service will be able to watch it then.

Friends cast, and who to expect

The six main cast members of the TV series Friends and the characters they played are:

• Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green
• Courteney Cox as Monica Geller
• Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay
• Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani
• Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing
• David Schwimmer as Ross Geller

The show also featured several notable recurring cast members, including:

• James Michael Tyler as Gunther
• Maggie Wheeler as Janice Litman-Goralnik
• Paul Rudd as Mike Hannigan
• Elliott Gould as Jack Geller
• Christina Pickles as Judy Geller
• Tom Selleck as Dr. Richard Burke
• Giovanni Ribisi as Frank Buffay Jr.
• Helen Baxendale as Emily Waltham
• Aisha Tyler as Charlie Wheeler

Can you watch Friends for free?

Earlier this year, when Friends was removed from Netflix, the only way you can watch Friends is by buying each episode individually on Amazon, YouTube, or Apple TV. They currently cost £2.49 per episode with each box set costing £14.99 each.

Thankfully, the arrival of HBO Max in the UK across all devices means it's now possible to stream the award-winning sitcom as part of a £4.99 per month subscription.

What devices can you watch Friends on?

Since you can watch Friends on Prime Video, YouTube, and Apple TV, there are a multitude of ways to watch the show:

Amazon devices:

• Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Cube
• Fire Tablets (e.g., Fire 7, Fire HD 10)
• Echo devices with screens (e.g., Echo Show, Echo Spot)

Apple devices

• Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD streaming boxes
• Mac computers
• Apple Vision Pro

Smart TVs:

• Most major smart TV brands, typically models from 2012 onwards
• Samsung
• Sony
• LG
• Panasonic
• Philips

Mobile Devices and Tablets:

• Android smartphones and tablets
• iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touch

Streaming Media Players and Set-Top Boxes:

• Roku devices
• Apple TV and Apple TV 4K
• Google Chromecast (including Chromecast with Google TV)
• Nvidia Shield TV
• TiVo Stream
• Xiaomi Mi Bo

Game Consoles:

• Sony PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5
• Microsoft Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S

PC and Mac computers running Windows, macOS, Chrome OS, or Linux:

• Supported browsers: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, and Opera

How to watch episodes of Friends using a VPN

If you’re travelling on holiday at the beginning of the year, you might not be able to watch your favourite shows. Many services pinpoint your location with an IP address, which can be linked to geographic regions, allowing platforms to enforce content restrictions based on licensing agreements.

The good news is that a VPN can help bypass this geo-block and allow you to watch any show and any streaming service by connecting to a UK server and masking your current location.

VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) let you mask your real location by routing traffic through servers in different countries, tricking services into thinking you're elsewhere.

This enables access to geo-restricted content that's only available for a specific region.

ExpressVPN is an award-winning service, with gongs from the likes of Techradar, CNET, and Tom's Guide, with praise for its servers dedicated to fast, reliable streaming from anywhere in the world. Subscriptions start from £1.99 a month, and unlock ExpressVPN across up to 10x devices. Once installed, connect to a UK server from ExpressVPN's network of over 3,000 servers across 105 countries.

The service uses proprietary Lightway protocol for enhanced speed and reliability, ensuring smooth streaming of festival performances. The service works across all your devices – Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, smart TVs and streaming devices like Fire TV Stick. You can even use ExpressVPN's MediaStreamer feature to watch on devices that don't normally support VPNs, such as PlayStation or Xbox.

ExpressVPN includes a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to watch the entire festival risk-free and recover your investment if you're not satisfied with the service. VPNs are not illegal and are often mandated by companies to improve online security for employees. However, it's your responsibility to ensure that you're using these popular apps for legal use. Always check the terms and conditions of the streaming service.

Here’s how to use ExpressVPN to tune into Friends wherever you are in the world:

• Sign up for one of the best VPN deals, like ExpressVPN for £1.99
  
  
• Download the app to your preferred device (we've got detailed instructions on how to install a VPN on Mac, Windows 10, Windows 11, a Wi-Fi router, and Linux, but the best VPNs support even more gadgets)
  
• Open the app and login with your account details
  
• Choose a VPN server location in the UK, and connect to encrypt your internet connection
  
• Open Amazon Prime, YouTube, HBO Max or Apple TV and stream Friends you are in the world

Benefits of ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is particularly well-suited for streaming as it boasts VPN server locations in 105 countries, providing access to global coverage.

It offers ultra-fast speeds on a 10-Gbps network, essential for high-quality streaming without buffering. With military-grade encryption, a strict no-logs policy, and features like split tunnelling and a kill switch, your online activity stays private.

Based in the British Virgin Islands — outside Five Eyes jurisdiction — it avoids mandatory data retention laws, which means that even if the company were collecting data (it's not), law enforcement from the UK and US would be unable to compel ExpressVPN to hand over any information about its subscribers.

ExpressVPN supports a wide range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, smart TVs, and routers. There's no limit on the number of ExpressVPN apps that you can download on your devices, and with a single subscription, you can connect to the VPN on 10x gadgets at once.

It also has a dedicated team that optimises the service for major streaming platforms. Round-the-clock customer support is available if you encounter any issues during race weekend.

ExpressVPN isn't the cheapest VPN. However, its 30-day money-back guarantee makes it a risk-free choice for privacy-conscious users and frequent streamers. It should also give new customers the confidence to subscribe to one of its longer contracts, which unlock the biggest discounts.