United Kingdom's 'SNL' Familiar in Best Ways, All Its Own in Others

by Julian Spivey

Photo: Sky One

“Saturday Night Live UK” premiered on Sky One in the United Kingdom on Saturday, March 21, with ‘SNL’ legend Tina Fey as its inaugural host and English indie rock group Wet Leg as the first musical guest.

American TV watchers, like me, had to wait until Sunday evening to check out the U.K. iteration of ‘SNL’ when it dropped on Peacock.

The U.K. version of the show will be familiar to American audiences of ‘SNL.’ The show begins with a cold opening, the cast credits roll, the host gives a monologue, sketch after sketch airs (including things like faux commercials), the musical guest performs twice and the episode is broken up in the middle by Weekend Update, the fake news segment.

The only thing that might not work for American audiences is that things will undoubtedly and understandably get lost in translation with the differences in cultures and politics between the U.K. and the U.S.

The only time I really struggled to keep up was during the cold opening, which featured the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, being psyched up to take a call from U.S. President Donald Trump about the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. I hate to show my American ignorance, but I couldn’t even name the British P.M. before watching this episode (though they seem to change quite often lately).

George Fouracres, who impersonated Starmer, Hammed Animashaun, who portrayed deputy P.M. David Lammy and a Gen Z influencer played by Jack Shep had the honor of being the first ever cast members to shout the iconic “Live from London, It’s Saturday Night.”  

Fey, one of the most famous alumni of America’s ‘SNL,’ may have been a head-scratcher for some as the first ever host of ‘SNL UK,’ not being a U.K. citizen and all, but it made sense to begin with someone so familiar with the format of the show, especially from her time as head writer in New York. Most of the hosts going forward will likely be of U.K. origin, with Northern Irish actor Jamie Dornan and British actor Riz Ahmed hosting the next two episodes.

Fey’s monologue was something U.S. fans are familiar with as she took questions from the audience, which included cameos from “Derry Girls” and “Bridgerton” star Nicola Coughlan, American actor Michael Cera and longtime British television host Graham Norton.

The show was pretty impressive for its first outing, undoubtedly drawing on a half-century of the American version to take the lead.

The 51st season of ‘SNL’ in the States has been one of the weakest this longtime fan can remember, so this U.K. premiere would’ve ranked in the top five episodes had it been done at Studio 8H in New York City.

Among the best sketches of the evening were a “Hamnet” parody where William Shakespeare, played mostly by Fouracres and eventually by Shep, returning home to Stratford-on-Avon from producing plays in London a bit more and more modern each time, a sketch about a group of technology folks who are in charge of making the Internet annoying by doing things like making the ‘X’ boxes smaller and smaller, and a fake commercial for a skin care line called Underágé.

The majority of standout cast member moments came from male cast members on the show, with Fouracres definitely getting the most screen time with his impressions of Starmer, documentarian David Attenborough, and a bit called “45 Seconds with George Fouracres. He might well be the “glue” of the show, a la Phil Hartman for the American version for so long.

Though he didn’t appear as the lead as much, Shep seems to be a true star in the making for the show, as the younger, outgoing Gen Z cast member, a la what Marcello Hernandez is to the American version today. Shep’s standout moment in the premiere was as Princess Diana in the Attenborough Last Supper sketch, despite not really saying anything. It was a bit of cheeky British comedy that worked for me but might offend a more hoity-toity British crowd.

Weekend Update is such a vital part of ‘SNL,’ and it’s nice to see the U.K. version come out strong with co-anchors Ania Magliano and Paddy Young hitting some targets, like Prince Andrew and the war in Iran, hard. I rather enjoyed the cheekiness of each of their punchlines and deliveries, and it made me believe Weekend Update should be a regular highlight of the early days of this show. The only thing I hope is that Magliano and Young develop a bit more chemistry going forward. The duo mostly read their own jokes on the premiere without back-and-forth.

The only female highlight, outside of Magliano on Update, was Emma Sidi as a dressing room attendant named Jugs, trying to beef up Fey’s measurements to impress those outside of the room. It wasn’t really my thing, but at least it gave Sidi some screen time – something, hopefully, the ladies of the cast will see more of moving forward.

One thing I figured might happen with the U.K. version of ‘SNL’ that we don’t get in America is more freedom with swearing, since most countries aren’t as prudish as the U.S. about such things. So don’t be surprised to hear things like “fuck” and “cunty” on the U.K. version. Hearing Shakespeare talk about his “cunty” earring was quite humorous.  

‘SNL UK’ will have the same pros and cons as the American version. There will be highlights and lowlights, likely all within the same episode, and some shows will be better than others. The show will be as good as its writing, so hopefully, head writer Jonno Johnson and staff prove to be the right staff for the show.