Netflix Sets Matthew Perry Docuseries for October

Netflix will revisit Matthew Perry’s life and legacy in a new three-part docuseries arriving October 27. Titled The One About Matthew Perry, the project will look beyond his defining role as Chandler Bing to explore his career, private struggles and advocacy.

Family memories will anchor the series

The documentary is built around previously unheard testimony from Perry’s sister, Mia Perry Bowick, and friends who knew him throughout his life. It will also use unreleased photographs and video from the Perry family’s archive, giving the series material that has not previously been available to the public.

Bowick said she needed time before she was ready to share those memories. Her aim, according to the announcement, is to present her brother as a complete person rather than only as a sitcom character or someone defined by addiction. The series will follow Perry from his rise as a young comic actor through Friends and his later work.

An experienced documentary team is behind it

Emmy winner Mary Robertson, whose credits include Quiet on Set and The Fall of Diddy, directs the series. Maxine Productions, part of Sony Pictures Television, is producing. Robertson is also among the executive producers, alongside Lisa Kalikow, Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman.

Robertson said Perry’s performances made millions of people laugh and feel less alone, while his willingness to discuss addiction became another major part of his public legacy. The production is designed to let family, friends and creative collaborators describe the person they knew away from cameras.

Perry died in October 2023 at age 54. Since then, public discussion of his life has often centered on the circumstances of his death and the criminal cases that followed. The new series is positioning itself as a broader portrait, balancing the worldwide familiarity of Friends with personal testimony and Perry’s efforts to speak openly about recovery. Netflix has not yet disclosed whether any of his five principal Friends co-stars will appear.