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Saturday Night Live UK Series 1 Review: A Promising Star
- Justin D Williams
- Aug 8
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 10
By Justin D Williams
When Saturday Night Live UK was first announced, I was curious, but I also had some doubts about whether the format would actually work. The original Saturday Night Live is so closely connected to American culture, politics, celebrities, and comedy that bringing the show to the UK could have easily felt like the same program with different accents. After watching all of Series 1, I think they pulled it off better than I expected. The show is definitely still finding its identity, and there are sketches that work much better than others, but by the end of the series I felt like I was watching something that could eventually stand on its own rather than simply being the British version of an American institution.
The biggest strength of Series 1 is easily the cast. Hammed Animashaun, Ayoade Bamgboye, Larry Dean, Celeste Dring, George Fouracres, Ania Magliano, Annabel Marlow, Al Nash, Jack Shep, Emma Sidi and Paddy Young make up a pretty large ensemble, but over the course of the series you start getting a better idea of what each performer brings to the show.
George Fouracres became one of my favorites very quickly because there is something unpredictable about his comedy. Sometimes it is not even the dialogue that gets me, but his facial expressions, delivery, and complete commitment to whatever bizarre character he is playing. The recurring 45 Seconds with Fouracres segments were perfect for him because they basically gave him a short amount of time to do something completely ridiculous and then get out before the joke had a chance to overstay its welcome.
Hammed Animashaun also stood out throughout the series. He can be funny playing things relatively straight, but when he gets the chance to go bigger with a character, you can really see how much range he has. Boovies Goes to the Films was one of the sketches where his personality really carried the entire thing.
Emma Sidi was another performer I enjoyed watching because she has a way of making strange characters feel completely natural. Jack Shep also seemed willing to disappear into whatever weird role was handed to him, and that willingness to completely commit is important in sketch comedy.
Ania Magliano and Paddy Young also grew on me quite a bit as the hosts of Weekend Update. Early on, you could still feel them trying to settle into a segment that has decades of history behind it, but as the series continued, their chemistry became stronger, and the desk started feeling more like their own.
The only issue with having eleven cast members is that not everybody gets the same opportunity to shine. There are people in this ensemble I still feel like I barely got to know, so I would love to see Series 2 spread the material around a little more and give everyone a chance to have that breakout sketch.
The rotating hosts brought a lot to the first series as well. Tina Fey was probably the safest choice to launch the show because she knows the SNL format inside and out, but I actually became more interested once the series started bringing in hosts who had less of a direct connection to the American version. Jamie Dornan was willing to completely embarrass himself for a joke, and that is exactly what you want from someone hosting a sketch comedy show. Hostage would not have worked nearly as well if he had played everything with a wink toward the audience instead of treating the ridiculous situation seriously. Riz Ahmed was another host I really enjoyed, especially because of Operation. He completely understood the tone of the material and never acted like he was above the joke, which helped make that sketch one of my favorites from the season.
Aimee Lou Wood also fit into the ensemble really well, especially during the Super Mario sketch. That became one of the episodes where the host did not feel like a celebrity visiting the show for a week, but instead felt like another member of the cast.
That was really the key with the strongest hosts. The ones who worked best were willing to enter whatever ridiculous world the writers had created and treat it like everything happening around them was completely normal.
There were quite a few sketches I enjoyed throughout Series 1, but Hostage might still be my favorite. The premise is simple, but the sketch keeps escalating the situation in a way that actually builds on the original joke instead of simply repeating it.
Jamie Dornan is trying to record a ransom video, but the conversation gradually becomes more focused on the hostage's complicated relationship situation. Before long, the kidnapping itself almost feels secondary because everyone becomes more invested in what is happening in her personal life.
Hostage | SNL UK
That is exactly the type of absurd comedy I enjoy because the actors never stop treating the situation seriously. Annabel Marlow and Dornan completely commit to it, and the more ridiculous the conversation becomes, the funnier the sketch gets.
The Super Mario sketch, Italian Plumber with Princess Problems, is another one that had me laughing. George Fouracres and Aimee Lou Wood basically take Mario and Princess Peach and turn them into a couple having a very real relationship argument after everything they have been through together.
What I loved about the sketch is that the Mario references are not doing all of the work. There is an actual relationship comedy underneath everything, so every reference to Peach being rescued, Mario disappearing on adventures or the other characters in the Mushroom Kingdom becomes part of the argument instead of just being something the audience is supposed to recognize.
That is how you do a good pop culture parody. The reference should enhance the comedy, not replace it.
An Italian Plumber with Princess Problems | SNL UK
Operation, featuring Riz Ahmed, is another sketch that has to be on my list. Taking something as harmless and familiar as the Operation board game and treating what is happening like a legitimate medical situation is such a ridiculous idea, but everybody commits to it so completely that it works.
Ahmed especially sells the sketch because he never behaves like he is waiting for the audience to laugh. Everyone acts like the stakes are completely real, which makes the absurdity even better and turned what could have been a one joke premise into one of the sketches I remembered after the episode ended.
Operation: A Party Game With A Problem | SNL UK
I also really enjoyed Boovies Goes to the Films. Since so much of what I do revolves around movies, reviews, and entertainment coverage, the idea of making fun of those celebrity film interviews probably connected with me even more.
Hammed Animashaun makes Boovies such an odd character that the sketch becomes more than just a parody of entertainment journalism. What begins as something recognizable slowly becomes increasingly uncomfortable and strange, and that awkwardness is exactly what makes it funny.
That is really the biggest challenge facing Saturday Night Live UK. It cannot survive long-term if the entire identity of the show is simply being American SNL with British accents.
The basic format can remain because that is what makes SNL what it is. You still have the cold open, host monologue, live sketches, prerecorded material, musical performances, and Weekend Update, but the personality of the comedy needs to come from the people actually making this version. That is why sketches like Hostage, Operation, Boovies Goes to the Films, Italian Plumber with Princess Problems, The Budger, and 45 Seconds with Fouracres stood out to me. They have their own personality, and they feel like ideas somebody genuinely wanted to make rather than something created because this is what an SNL sketch is supposed to look like. Some of those sketches are very British, some could probably work anywhere, and others are just completely weird. That variety is exactly what I want the show to continue embracing.
Of course, not everything lands, but I almost expect that from this type of show. When you are producing a live sketch comedy series every week, there are going to be great ideas, average ideas, and occasionally something where you wonder how it made it through rehearsal. Some sketches went on longer than they needed to, while others had a funny initial premise without finding another level. There were also episodes where the overall hit rate was noticeably stronger than others, but I would rather see the writers and performers take chances than become so cautious that everything feels safe.
That unpredictability is part of the fun of sketch comedy. You might watch one sketch that does absolutely nothing for you and then five minutes later get something like Hostage that becomes one of your favorites of the entire series.
By the time Series 1 ended, Saturday Night Live UK had won me over. It still has plenty of room to improve, but I do not think the first series needed to be perfect because its biggest job was proving that this format could work in the UK and that there was enough talent behind it to justify continuing. For me, it accomplished that. The cast has chemistry, several performers already feel like potential breakout stars, the hosts generally embraced the format, and there are already multiple sketches that I would happily go back and watch again. Hostage remains my favorite, but Italian Plumber with Princess Problems, Operation, and Boovies Goes to the Films are right there among my highlights. More importantly, those sketches show several different types of comedy, which makes me interested in seeing where these performers and writers go next.
That is probably the biggest compliment I can give the first series. I am not finishing it wondering why Britain needed its own version of Saturday Night Live. I am finishing it wondering what they are going to do with Series 2.
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