Saturday Night Live UK

Casting and writing staff

The production staff began casting in mid-2025,^[14] with auditions taking place that summer.^[17] The writers' room was originally announced to be staffed by eighteen writers,^[2] 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.^[18] There were over 200 other members of crew,^[19] including Pauli Lovejoy serving as the musical director, Annie Hardinge as costume designer, and Kevin Fortune as the head of wigs, hair and make-up.^[20]

The cast and launch date for the series were confirmed on 4 February 2026.^[2] 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.^[21] The cast and writers began workshopping in mid-February, and were trained by the American version's cue-card handler, Wally Feresten, to be readied for the usage of cue cards during the programme. The show used a test audience to establish the quality and worthiness-for-inclusion of sketches.^[12] A week prior to launch, Longman named Ania Magliano and Paddy Young as the Weekend Update anchors.^[22] As of the second episode, comedian Jamie Demetriou and writer James Graham have joined the programme as consultants;^[23] Demetriou was also involved in casting selection.^[17]

International

Shortly after the UK premiere date was announced, it was confirmed that the Canadian streaming service Crave had acquired the series;^[39] it is also broadcast on CTV Comedy Channel.^{[40][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.^[41] In Australia, the series is made available on HBO Max on a two-day delay.^[42]

Critical response

While many were sceptical that the show would land with a UK audience, the reception to the premiere was mixed, with critics highlighting host Tina Fey's performance as positive.^[43] Lucy Mangan, writing for The Guardian, stated that the inaugural episode "did work", despite a "stilted" opening.^[44] 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.^[45] Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club described SNL UK as a "soft reset" for fans of the original show, writing, "It’s a chance for the series to feel [...] just a little more uncertain than its American counterpart, with a different set of cultural references and influences".^[46] Steve Bennett of Chortle praised the show, noting that it has given comedians a platform beyond the Edinburgh Fringe and social media that is not typically seen on television.^[47]

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."^[48]

Viewership

The opening episode drew an audience of 226,000 watching on the night of broadcast,^[b][49] which fell 10% to 205,000 for the second episode.^[50] 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.^[49] After severe deterioration in the size of the overnight audience for the third and fourth episodes,^[51][52] overnight viewership improved week-on-week following the mid-run break, before the final episode registered a series low attributed to being broadcast opposite Eurovision.^[53] The series averaged 154,000 viewers and a 2.1% audience share across the run, significantly ahead of the 28,000 (0.4%) timeslot average.^[54]

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;^[3] including repeat showings and "other viewing" - reportedly Sky's "preferred ratings measure" - the audience was 784,000.^[5] Viewership in this metric, however, also declined - by over a quarter of a million - by the fourth episode, and, in total, the run averaged 506,000 by this measure.^[55] It was noted that viewership of episodes via NOW was too low to register in online viewing reports. Despite the overall decline, viewership among younger viewers steadily increased,^[5] peaking with the sixth episode; factoring in repeats, it averaged 170,000 across the run. The series skewed heavily towards more affluent and professional (ABC1) viewers.^[55]

Deadline analysis shows that, as of April 2026, SNL UK clips have garnered over 86 million views across all official social media accounts.^[56]

Accolades

The series has been long-listed in the Best Comedy category at the 2026 National Television Awards.^[61]