For the identically titled Big Brother UK spin-off show, see List of Big Brother (British TV series) shows § Saturday Night Live.
Not to be confused with Saturday Live (British TV programme).
Saturday Night Live UK
Genre
  • Political satire
  • Satire
  • Sketch comedy
  • Variety show
Created by Lorne Michaels
Written by Daran "Jonno" Johnson (head writer)
Directed by Liz Clare (ep 1–5)
Richard Valentine (ep 6–8)
Starring
  • Hammed Animashaun
  • Ayoade Bamgboye
  • Larry Dean
  • Celeste Dring
  • George Fouracres
  • Ania Magliano
  • Annabel Marlow
  • Al Nash
  • Jack Shep
  • Emma Sidi
  • Paddy Young
Announcer Bella Hull
Theme music composer Pauli Lovejoy
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language English
No. of series 1
No. of episodes 7
Production
Executive producer Lorne Michaels
Producer James Longman
Production locations TC1, Television Centre, London
Running time 75 minutes (inc. advertisements)[1]
Production companies
  • Universal Television Alternative Studio UK
  • Broadway Video
  • SNL Studios
  • Sky Studios
Original release
Network Sky One
Release 21 March 2026 (2026-03-21) –
present
Related
  • Saturday Night Live
  • Saturday Live

Saturday Night Live UK (SNL UK) is a British live sketch comedy variety show that premiered on Sky One on 21 March 2026. Created and executive produced by Lorne Michaels, it is a British adaptation of the original American version of the series, featuring an ensemble cast of sketch comedy performers, musical performances, and a special celebrity guest each week. The show's famous opening catchphrase, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", was altered to "Live from London, it's Saturday Night!"

In May 2026, the show was renewed for a second series. The second series is set to air in September 2026 and last until early 2027.[2]

Cast

The full cast was confirmed on 4 February 2026.[3]

  • Hammed Animashaun
  • Ayoade Bamgboye
  • Larry Dean
  • Celeste Dring
  • George Fouracres
  • Ania Magliano*
  • Annabel Marlow
  • Al Nash
  • Jack Shep
  • Emma Sidi
  • Paddy Young*

* denotes Weekend Update anchor

Episodes

No.
overall		 No. in
series		 Host Musical guest Original release date UK viewers
(millions) [a]
1 1 Tina Fey Wet Leg 21 March 2026 (2026-03-21) 0.53[4]

  • Wet Leg perform "Mangetout" and "Catch These Fists".
  • Nicola Coughlan, Michael Cera and Graham Norton appear in the opening monologue, with Coughlan also appearing in the "45 Seconds with Fouracres" sketch.
  • Kate Butch appears in the "Shakespeare's Wild Night Out” sketch.
  • Regé-Jean Page appears in the changing room sketch.
2 2 Jamie Dornan Wolf Alice 28 March 2026 (2026-03-28) 0.51[5]

  • Wolf Alice perform "White Horses" and "Leaning Against The Wall".
  • Chris O'Dowd appears in the opening monologue.
  • Laura Daniel appears in the "British Themed Pub" sketch.
3 3 Riz Ahmed Kasabian 4 April 2026 (2026-04-04) 0.43[6]

  • Kasabian perform "Great Pretender" and "Release the Pressure".
4 4 Jack Whitehall Jorja Smith 11 April 2026 (2026-04-11) 0.37[6]

  • Jorja Smith performs "Little Things" and "Price Of It All".
5 5 Nicola Coughlan Foo Fighters 25 April 2026 (2026-04-25) TBD

  • Foo Fighters perform "Caught in the Echo" and "Child Actor".
  • Dave Grohl also appears in the opening monologue, and the 'plane landing' sketch.
  • Jimmy Fallon appears in the opening monologue, the 'film song' sketch and in Weekend Update.
6 6 Aimee Lou Wood MEEK 2 May 2026 (2026-05-02) TBD

  • MEEK performs "Fabulous" and "Beautiful Freeks".
7 7 Hannah Waddingham[7] Myles Smith 9 May 2026 (2026-05-09) TBD

  • Peter Serafinowicz appears in the cold open, portraying Nigel Farage.
8 8 Ncuti Gatwa Holly Humberstone 16 May 2026 (2026-05-16) TBD

Production

Sky, which has broadcast the original American Saturday Night Live since 2020 on linear channel Sky Comedy, was understood to be engaging in the "early stages of development" of a British version in December 2021. At the time, representatives from Saturday Night Live were "understood to be in London discussing the deal with Sky" (like NBC, also owned by Comcast), with comedians reportedly "lining up to be involved".[8] In April 2025, it was confirmed Lorne Michaels would executive produce the show, to air on Sky Max and NOW at an undetermined date in 2026.[9][10] A six-episode order was confirmed in May 2025, with the possibility of an extension depending on its popularity.[11] On 20 March 2026, Sky announced a two episode extension of the series prior to the premiere, bringing the total episode order up to eight.[12] Sky have stated that the programme is written in the week of each show and performed in front of a live studio audience. Similar to the original, it features an opening monologue, sketches, live music, and a British version of the news satire item Weekend Update.[3] The programme is broadcast from Television Centre, London, in studio TC1, with the BBC (via its commercial subsidiary BBC Studioworks) providing studios and post-production.[13]

The programme is a production of Broadway Video & SNL Studios in association with Universal Television Alternative Studio's UK production team. Lorne Michaels is credited for the role of show creator and main executive producer, as the programme was commissioned by Phil Edgar-Jones (executive director of unscripted originals at Sky) and Lisa Clark (commissioning executive at Sky) for Cecile Frot-Coutaz (CEO of Sky Studios, and Chief Content Officer for Sky). James Longman is lead producer, with Liz Clare as director and Daran "Jonno" Johnson as head writer.[3][14] Several of these key figures visited the studios of the American version in November 2025.[15] Edgar-Jones stated, speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival in August 2025, said that "the American team have come over, to give structural advice, but they're very mindful this has to be a very British thing".[16] Clare left as the show's director after the fifth episode, owing to prior commitments clashing with the episode order extension. Richard Valentine is to direct the final three episodes of the inaugural run.[17]

On 7 May 2026, Sky renewed the show for a second series, set to consist of twelve episodes. The second series is set to air in September 2026 and last until early 2027.[18] [19]

Casting

The production staff began casting in mid-2025.[16] The writers' room was originally announced to be staffed by eighteen writers,[3] which was confirmed as twenty in March, namely: Jonno Johnson (as head writer), Charlie Skelton (as Weekend Update head writer), Celya AB, Omar Badawy, Gráinne Maguire, Laura Claxton, Chris Cantrill, James Farmer, Humphrey Ker, Omodara Olatunji, Joseph Moore, Lorna Rose Treen, Hari Kanth, Louis Waymouth, Keith Akushie, Bella Hull, Ayo Adenekan, Nathan Foad, Al Roberts, and Ellie Fulcher.[20] Furthermore, Pauli Lovejoy serves as the musical director, Annie Hardinge as costume designer, and Kevin Fortune as the head of wigs, hair and make-up.[21]

The cast and launch date for the series were confirmed on 4 February 2026.[3] It was then revealed that members of the cast had visited the studios of the American version the previous week, during production of its thousandth episode.[22] The cast and writers began workshopping in mid-February, with the cast also taking part in a session with the American version's cue-card handler, Wally Feresten, in mid-March, in order to ready the cast for the usage of cue cards during the programme. The show will use a test audience to establish the quality and worthiness-for-inclusion of sketches.[14] A week prior to launch, Longman named Ania Magliano and Paddy Young as the Weekend Update anchors.[23] As of the second episode, comedian Jamie Demetriou and writer James Graham have joined the programme as consultants.[24]

Broadcast

The eight-episode first series premiered on Sky One on 21 March 2026, with episodes also made available on the streaming service NOW.[12] The second episode was briefly interrupted by a technical fault during the monologue, for viewers watching Sky One through the NOW streaming platform.[25] Upon confirmation of the host and musical guest for the fourth episode, it was announced that the series would undergo a one-week break before returning for the second half of the run.[26]

The programme is sponsored by online marketplace eBay and its livestreaming option eBay Live, which runs bumpers throughout the broadcast, and, as part of social media promotion, runs a YouTube series featuring a stylist in collaboration with cast members,[27] as well as having provided clothing worn by cast members.[28][29] It also hosts events where users of the platform can bid on items from the show - including costume items and signed props - with proceeds to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society's discretionary 'Keep it Fringe Fund'.[30] British bakery chain Greggs ran a competition in late March 2026, as part of its "Greggs Quests" rewards scheme, in which entrants could win tickets, travel, and accommodation to the April 18 or April 25 episodes;[31] it is unknown how the rescheduling of the April 18 episode affected this contest.

The twelve-episode second series is set to premiere in late 2026.[18]

International

Shortly after the UK premiere date was announced, it was confirmed that the Canadian streaming service Crave had acquired the series;[32] it is also broadcast on the CTV Comedy channel.[33][better source needed] In March 2026, NBC-owned streaming service Peacock announced it would release episodes of the series in the United States one day after the UK airdate, at 9pm EDT.[34] In Australia, the series is made available on HBO Max on a two-day delay.[35]

Reception

While many were sceptical that the show would land with a UK audience,[who?] the reception to the premiere was mixed, with critics highlighting host Tina Fey's performance as positive.[who?][36] Lucy Mangan, writing for The Guardian, stated that the inaugural episode "did work", despite a "stilted" opening.[37] Jason Zinoman of The New York Times opined that while Fey was a good choice for a first host, the show would need to differentiate itself from the original version of SNL.[38]

The opening episode drew an audience of 226,000 watching on the night of broadcast,[b][39] which fell 10% to 205,000 for the second episode.[40] Both episodes were competitive with the major television channels in the slot, and considered an improvement on the viewership of Sky One's other original content as well as that of the original US version.[39] The overnight audience for the third episode, however, deteriorated to 131,000,[41] and registered 120,000 for the fourth episode.[42] Within seven days of broadcast, the launch's audience more-than-doubled to 528,000, also more-than-quadrupling the average audience of the slot at Sky One's initial closure in 2021;[4] including repeat showings and "other viewing" - reportedly Sky's "preferred ratings measure" - the audience was 784,000.[6] Viewership in this metric, however, also declined - by over a quarter of a million - by the fourth episode, with viewership of episodes via NOW too low to register in online viewing reports. Despite the overall decline, viewership among younger viewers has steadily increased, growing from 95,000 viewers for the launch to 126,000 for week four.[6]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 16 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Without overthinking the formula, Saturday Night Live UK keeps things loose, confident, and more often funny than not, carving out a strong identity early on."[43]

Saturday Night Live UK series 1 viewership
Ep Broadcast date Overnight Audience share 7-day consolidated 7-day consolidated
(inc. repeats)		 28-day consolidated Refs
1 21 March 2026 226,000 3.2% 528,000 784,000 TBD [39][6]
2 28 March 2026 205,000 3.2% 507,200 642,000 TBD [40][6]
3 4 April 2026 130,100 1.8% 430,600 631,000 TBD [41][6]
4 11 April 2026 120,000 1.6% 371,100 503,000 TBD [42][6]

Notes

  1. ^ Includes seven days of post-broadcast viewership.
  2. ^ This number - the 'overnight' - reflects viewers who watched it as it was broadcast and up to 2am, and will increase when catch-up viewership is added.

References

  1. ^ "Saturday Night Live on Sky One HD at 10:00pm March 21st, 2026". Digiguide. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
  2. ^ Stolworthy, Jacob (7 May 2026). "Live from London... again! SNL UK has been renewed for another series". The Independent. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Full cast announced for Saturday Night Live UK, coming to Sky and NOW 21 March 2026". Sky Group. 4 February 2026. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  4. ^ a b Rosenzweig, Jed (29 March 2026). "SNL UK Premiere Doubles Audience, Sets Sky One Record". LateNighter. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  5. ^ Price, Stephen (9 April 2026). "Saturday Night Live UK holds firm in week two". Broadcast. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Kanter, Jake (21 April 2026). "'SNL UK' Storms Past 86M Views On Social Media, But TV Viewing Drops By A Third". Deadline. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
  7. ^ "Hannah Waddingham and Ncuti Gatwa to host the series' final two episodes of Saturday Night Live UK". Sky Group. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  8. ^ White, Peter (10 December 2021). "'Saturday Night Live': British Version Of NBC Late-Night Comedy In The Works At Comcast-Backed Sky". Deadline. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  9. ^ ""Live from London, it's Saturday Night!"". Sky Group. 10 April 2025. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  10. ^ Rosenzweig, Jed (10 April 2025). "Lorne Michaels to Produce New UK-Based Saturday Night Live". LateNighter. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  11. ^ Elmes, John (14 May 2025). "SNL UK handed short run". Broadcast. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  12. ^ a b Shafer, Ellise (20 March 2026). "'SNL U.K.' Extends First Season to 8 Episodes". Variety. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  13. ^ Rosenzweig, Jed (5 February 2026). "SNL UK's Home Studio Is Steeped in Television History". LateNighter. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  14. ^ a b Aroesti, Rachel (15 March 2026). "'How could this be anything other than funny?!' Behind the scenes of Saturday Night Live UK". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  15. ^ Riccardo, Nick (14 November 2025). "SNL UK Team Shadowed US Counterparts Last Week". LateNighter. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  16. ^ a b Riccardo, Nick (21 August 2025). "SNL UK Names Its Lorne Michaels". LateNighter. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  17. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (29 April 2026). "Liz Clare Exits SNL UK to Direct Tony Awards; Richard Valentine to Wrap Season". LateNighter. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  18. ^ a b Goldbart, Max (7 May 2026). "Saturday Night Live UK Renewed For Season 2 At Sky". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  19. ^ "Live from London... again! SNL UK has been renewed for another series". Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  20. ^ "Saturday Night Live UK announces writing team". Sky Group. 2 March 2026. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  21. ^ Webb Mitovich, Matt (27 January 2026). "SNL UK Adds Pauli Lovejoy as Musical Director". LateNighter. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  22. ^ Rosenzweig, Jed (5 February 2026). "Photos: SNL UK Cast Visited SNL's Studio 8H Last Week". LateNighter. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  23. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (15 March 2026). "SNL UK Weekend Update Anchors Revealed". LateNighter. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  24. ^ "Jack Whitehall to host SNL UK". Chortle. 31 March 2026. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  25. ^ Rosenzweig, Jed (29 March 2026). "SNL UK Hit by Brief Transmission Glitch During Second Episode". LateNighter. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  26. ^ Ellise Shafer (31 March 2026). "Jack Whitehall to Host SNL U.K. With Jorja Smith as Musical Guest". Variety. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  27. ^ "eBay partners with Saturday Night Live for its UK debut - bringing eBay Live to centre stage". UK eBay Community. 9 March 2026. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  28. ^ ebay_uk and ebayliveuk [@ebay_UK]; (10 April 2026). "Stone cold stunners in pre-loved pieces ✨ All from eBay, naturally 😉 [...]" – via Instagram.
  29. ^ ebay_uk and ebayliveuk [@ebay_UK]; (26 March 2026). "Pre-loved on prime time ✨ Sourced on eBay, styled by @amybannermanstylist and #raphaelcastelmezzano for @snluk. Standout pieces that might just steal the show. [...]" – via Instagram.
  30. ^ ebay_uk and ebayliveuk [@ebay_UK]; (2 April 2026). "Join @jakebhardwajtv on April 8th at 20:00 for the first @SNLUK x eBay Live. [...]" – via Instagram.
  31. ^ "Promotions and offers - Greggs Quests - Greggs x Saturday Night Live UK". Greggs. Archived from the original on 16 March 2026. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  32. ^ Stalcup, Jamie (6 February 2026). "Crave Acquires Saturday Night Live UK". WorldScreen. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  33. ^ "CTV On Air - Schedule". CTV. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  34. ^ Rosenzweig, Jed (9 March 2026). "Peacock to Stream Saturday Night Live UK in the U.S." LateNighter. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  35. ^ "Airdate: Saturday Night Live UK". TVTonight. 17 March 2026. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  36. ^ Whittock, Jesse (21 March 2026). "Tina Fey Leads 'Saturday Night Live UK' Debut". Deadline. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  37. ^ Mangan, Lucy (22 March 2026). "Saturday Night Live UK review – it didn't fail and it could have been a lot worse". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  38. ^ Zinoman, Jason; Tate, Gabriel (23 March 2026). "A Review of the U.K.'s 'S.N.L.' Debut From Both Sides of the Atlantic". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  39. ^ a b c Kanter, Jake (1 March 2026). "'Saturday Night Live UK' Premieres With Healthy Ratings For Sky". Deadline. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  40. ^ a b Yossman, K.J. (29 March 2026). "'SNL U.K.' Ratings Dip With Jamie Dornan-Hosted Second Episode". Variety. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  41. ^ a b Yossman, K.J. (5 April 2026). "'SNL U.K.' Ratings Drop by 42% for Riz Ahmed-Hosted Episode 3". Variety. Retrieved 6 April 2026.
  42. ^ a b Goldbart, Max (13 April 2026). "'SNL UK' Ratings Stabilize For Final Ep Before Hiatus". Deadline. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  43. ^ "Saturday Night Live UK: Season 1 | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 29 April 2026.