Matthew Perry’s death is blow for millions of Friends fans, who hoped he would find happiness that he brought to us all

FRIENDS will go down in TV history as one of the most joyous sitcoms of our age.

How sad, then, that the phenomenon has been brought to an end in such tragic circumstances.

Losing Matthew Perry is the death knell for a show which, despite airing its final episode 19 years ago, lived on in the hearts of a generation of viewers around the world.

It’s been just two years since we saw Matthew and the rest of the cast back together for Friends: The Reunion, and there was always the faint hope they’d give us some kind of repeat performance.

Together they created one of the last great comedies from a simpler age of telly, where you could create six subtly different characters, shove them in an apartment block together and watch them all fall in love.

Friends wasn’t radical, it wasn’t edgy, it wasn’t woke but it was clever, captivating and turned all of the cast into superstars over ten sensational series.

Matthew was the one who, arguably, struggled the most after the show ended in 2004.

He was already grappling with so many demons by the time the curtain came down.

It was ironic given that his character, Chandler, always seemed the one who had his act together the most, even though he used humour to mask his social awkwardness.

And it’s hard to imagine any other actor delivering so perfectly and confidently the acerbic one-liners and rapier wit Chandler was known for.

But behind the scenes he was the one cast member who was the most vulnerable.

When his problems were revealed the audience almost couldn’t comprehend it as, to so many of us, Chandler and Matthew were one and the same.

Which is why news of Matthew’s death will be particularly devastating, because the millions who loved the sitcom have, for decades, been willing him to turn his life around — and find the happiness that he brought to us all through Friends.