The Friends cast have announced they are reuniting for a special episode of the programme more than 15 years after it was last aired.

The unscripted special will be on the HBO Max streaming service and will star all of the main characters from the original hit series.

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer will all appear in the show.

Posting the news on Twitter, Perry said: “It’s happening…”

A number of his co-stars helped to break the news with near-identical posts.

Friends, which ran for 10 series and racked up 236 episodes, first aired in 1994.

The comedy, which is set in New York, followed a group of young friends living in Manhattan as they try to navigate life as young adults.

The last episode of the show was broadcast in 2004 and ended with a shot of the cast all leaving the keys to their apartment on the kitchen counter before heading out for a goodbye coffee with each other.

Kevin Reilly, chief content officer of HBO Max, said: “Guess you could call this the one where they all got back together – we are reuniting with David, Jennifer, Courteney, Matt, Lisa and Matthew for an HBO Max special that will be programmed alongside the entire Friends Library.

“I became aware of Friends when it was in the very early stages of development and then had the opportunity to work on the series many years later and have delighted in seeing it catch on with viewers generation after generation.

“It taps into an era when friends – and audiences – gathered together in real time and we think this reunion special will capture that spirit, uniting original and new fans.”

Aniston, Cox, Kudrow, LeBlanc, Perry, and Schwimmer will also executive produce the special.