Big Bang Theory final episode: CBS announces US release date for hour-long special

E4 has yet to announce an air date

The final episode of The Big Bang Theory has been given a runtime and air date.

CBS, the American network which broadcasts the long-running sitcom, have announced that the upcoming hour-long last episode will arrive 16 May.

UK broadcasters E4 will air the episode at a later date.

Over the course of its 12 seasons, The Big Bang Theory has been one of the most-popular comedies on television in the United States.

Actors Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg, and Kunal Nayyar were reported to be earning upwards of $1 million per episode.

They took a pay cut to $900,000 in 2017 so their colleagues Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch could get a pay rise – they now earn $425,000 per episode, up from the $175,000 they once made.

The programme will end in after 279 episodes, making it the longest-running multi-camera series in television history.

Following the announcement last August that The Big Bang Theory would end, Cuoco said she was “drowning in tears”.