“Live from London, it’s Saturday Night!”
That turn of an iconic TV phrase will be bellowed in just a matter of weeks, when the highly anticipated Saturday Night Live UK makes its debut across the pond.
SNL UK is set to premiere Saturday, March 21, airing on Sky and streaming on NOW. (An exact time slot has yet to be announced, nor have any plans for possible Stateside broadcast/streaming.)
The plan is still for an initial Season (Series?) 1 run of just six episodes.
The cast for the international offshoot of the legendary NBC sketchy comedy series has also been revealed, with Hammed Animashaun (The Wheel of Time), Ayoade Bamgboye (Best Newcomer at the 2025 Edinburgh Comedy Awards), Scottish comedian Larry Dean (Mock the Week), Celeste Dring (The Windsors), and George Fouracres (The Franchise) set to occupy whatever the Studio 8H equivalent is at BBC Studioworks in West London.
The cast of 11 also boasts Ania Magliano (Taskmaster), Annabel Marlow (Six the Musical at Edinburgh Fringe), Al Nash (Michael McIntyre’s Big Show), Jack Shep (Big Boys), Emma Sidi (Starstruck), and Paddy Young (Everyone Else Burns).
Related: The SNL UK Cast Share Their Comedy Roots—and Heroes
“The UK is absolutely packed with incredible comedy talent right now and this cast represents the freshest voices we have—they’re bold, exciting, and of course incredibly funny,” SNL UK lead producer James Longman (formerly of The Late Late Show with James Corden) said in a statement. “The chemistry between them is something special and we can’t wait to share this funny group of people with the world.”
Ten Burning SNL UK Questions: Will It Stream Stateside, Who Will Be Its Trump, and More
Broadcast live each week, SNL UK promises to deliver “the high-wire, anything-can-happen energy that makes SNL a cultural force, reimagined through a distinctly British lens. A guest host will take the helm each week, putting their distinctive stamp on the SNL formula alongside a chart-topping musical guest.”
Written, rehearsed, and performed in the week of each show, just as our own SNL comes together, each episode will be staged in front of a live studio audience and feature an opening monologue, topical sketches, live music, and a UK take on “Weekend Update.”
SNL UK is being produced for Sky and NOW by Universal Television Alternative Studio’s UK production team and Broadway Video; SNL creator Lorne Michaels is executive-producing.
In addition to Longman as lead producer, Liz Clare serves as lead director, and Daran Jonno Johnson is the head writer; other writers will be announced soon. Pauli Lovejoy was recently named musical director, Annie Hardinge is costume designer, and Kevin Fortune is the head of wigs, hair and make-up.
Get stories like this in your inbox: Sign up for LateNighter’s free daily newsletter.
Hopefully they can produce better sketches than the shit that comes out of our version.
British humor is much more snarkier and on target than in America!