The long-awaited reunion of the Friends cast could happen sooner rather than later thanks to Zoom, according to reports.

All six of the original cast had agreed to film a one-off unscripted special for new streaming service HBO Max, although those plans were thrown into disarray due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The special was originally due to film in March and be released in May, but could now be delayed until some point in 2021.

According to The Sun, however, the cast have been getting together on conferencing app Zoom during the lockdown and some of that "hilarious" footage could now be turned into a bonus spinoff.

"As soon as filming was cancelled, everyone started panicking as it took so long to get their schedules to align, there was a deep fear it may take a year or even longer to get them all back together again," a source told the newspaper.

"Courteney [Cox] immediately set up a Zoom meeting for them and they all logged on to discuss ideas - brain-storming and bringing in the producers for a session which they called a mock rehearsal and chatted for almost two hours.

"Their Zoom sessions have been brilliant fun, and there's some hilarious material on there which they hope can be aired as either a series of teasers, or even a stand-alone special."

The original show ran for 10 seasons and 236 episodes, ending in 2004.