The promising SNL UK Season One ran just eight episodes, roughly analogous to a U.S. writers’ strike-shortened SNL season, and each episode clocked in at around 58 minutes — about one sketch shorter than its American counterpart. The format is unmistakably SNL: cold opens, a guest host, a musical act, Weekend Update, and commercial parodies. The differences, however, are notable. SNL UK allows profanity, goes to darker comedic places, and takes sharper, more direct shots at politicians — even those its cast likely votes for. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, for instance, is relentlessly skewered week after week, portrayed as an ineffectual, conflict-averse bumbler.
The cast of eleven — Hammed Animashaun, Ayoade Bamgboye, Larry Dean, Celeste Dring, George Fouracres, Ania Magliano, Annabel Marlow, Al Nash, Jack Shep, Emma Sidi, and Paddy Young — is, top to bottom, stronger than the current U.S. cast. Crucially, most members came from outside traditional sketch comedy backgrounds — serious acting, improv, and musical theater — and that hunger translated into a cast visibly scrapping for airtime and taking comedic risks.
The standout performer of the season is George Fouracres, whose portrayal of Keir Starmer became a recurring anchor of the show’s political comedy. His everyman quality and range across ensemble and impression work drew comparisons to U.S. veteran Jon Lovitz.
The best moments came early. The top three episodes — hosted by Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, and Riz Ahmed — arrived first, and the show gradually settled into comfortable competence as the season progressed. The weakest episode was hosted by Hannah Waddingham, who was deemed a poor fit — asked to carry too much without the comedic range required.
The cast is talented and energetic, the writers are clearly crafting material to their performers’ specific strengths, and the political satire has a pointed wit that U.S. SNL has arguably lost. Some sketches rooted in British cultural nostalgia — references to shows like Noel’s House Party or Mr. Blobby — land differently for American viewers, but the broad strokes translate well.
Both hosts agree: bring back the entire cast for Season Two, which is expected to begin in September 2026. No one needs replacing. The season was not filled with wall-to-wall great sketches, but it was rarely bad — and in the long history of Saturday Night Live, avoiding terrible is a genuine achievement.
We cover all this and much more in this episode of Wasn’t That Special. Please subscribe and join us for a trip through every year of SNL, and consider joining at the Executive Producer level, where you get a whole load of extra commentary and clips that will help you become an SNL expert!
