If, like me, you have spent countless hours over the last decade and a half watching the TV sitcom Friends, then you should be in London to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the first Friend’s episode! Although set in New York, the studio behind the TV show (Warner Brothers) have opened up a mock Central Perk cafe branch in London for 2 weeks to celebrate the anniversary.

In the show, Central Perk is the cafe in Friends where Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe would hang out. A replica Central Perk cafe branch has been built at 67 Broadwick Street, just off the main Carnaby Street in in the Oxford Circus area. The cafe opened today and will be there for 2 weeks, and anyone is welcome to go in for a coffee. While this cafe branch does not look exactly like the one in the Friends set, it does have the logo on the windows outside, has an actor playing Gunther, and there will be widescreen tellys showing re-runs of Friends episodes all day long. The orange sofa where the stars of the show sat every week is also present! Rare memorabilia from the show will also be displayed in-store.

This Central Perk mock cafe is expecting to see around 900 visitors a day, but for health and safety reasons are only able to fit around 50 people at a time inside. The first day opening today saw a long queue of “friends of Friends” queueing up to experience this once in a lifetime opportunity.

What’s more, you can download a voucher from the Warner TV website to get a free coffee on your visit. The cafe is open from 9am to 6pm daily, and until Thursday 8th October 2009.

If you’re feeling a twinge of nostalgia for the TV show, a special edition 15th anniversary Friends box set of all ten seasons (each with about 24 episodes) is being released on the 28th September, and can be pre-ordered from Amazon.co.uk or HMV. Both are offering the box set at 40% off the RRP at £59.99.

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