Image via. Sky
Published Feb 14, 2026, 5:45 PM EST
Greer Riddell (pronounced Gre-er Rid-dell) is a very tired Londoner who is fuelled by tea and rarely looks up from her laptop. Before joining Collider in March 2024, Greer spent over a decade making social, content and video for UK media brands and freelance clients including the BBC, Bauer Media and Glastonbury Festivals. Greer is first and foremost the Social Media Coordinator at Collider, looking after Social Video and TikTok but is an occasional Features Writer.
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Saturday Night Live is coming to the UK this March, and the cast has now been announced. As a 50-year institution so intrinsically linked to the USA, critics are already questioning whether the format will translate for British audiences, and that skepticism has only intensified with the release of the cast list. It was assumed that the SNL UK line-up would include the same rotation of names that pop up on panel shows, or at least have a big-name hook from the heyday of 1990s sketch shows like Bob Mortimer or Paul Whitehouse. However, the entire cast is completely unknown, and that’s not a bad thing in the slightest.
Who Are the Cast of 'Saturday Night Live UK'?
Launching next month, Saturday Night Live UK will replicate the popular U.S. format, featuring an opening monologue, live sketches, and a musical act, but “reimagined through a British lens.” Executive producer James Longman has previously worked on Friends: The Reunion, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, and The Late Late Show with James Corden. Yet when the cast was announced to the press, a predictable, tired reaction rolled in from armchair critics across social media.
Out of the 11 cast members, only a select few may ring a faint bell for hardcore British comedy fans, including Ania Magliano, recognizable from Taskmaster or The Frank Skinner Podcast. If you’re a serial swiper of Instagram Reels, you may recognize Al Nash. Annabel Marlow appeared in Six, playing Katherine Howard, the ex-wife of Henry VIII. Larry Dean popped up on a recent episode of QI speaking about “negging” dates with Sandi Toksvig. While these previous appearances may not be enough to grip the masses into watching the first episode, this is an exciting move in British comedy — one that has been a long time coming.
'Saturday Night Live UK' Provides Fresh Look at British Comedy
Saturday Night Live UK Cast Group Shot Announcement
Routes into British comedy have been shrinking for years, and, unless you charmed your way into Oxbridge, they were sparse to begin with. The esteemed Cambridge Footlights has long acted as a pipeline sending students — who had the time and money to study “silly walks” alongside their subjects — straight onto BBC primetime. The list of alumni is as prestigious as the university itself, among them the likes of Stephen Fry, Olivia Colman, John Oliver, and Emma Thompson. The Footlights provide a guaranteed launchpad into the industry, but not a fair one.
The alternative route lay in Scotland at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where promoters sought to find the next James Acaster. Being picked up at the Fringe usually translated into appearances on panel shows like Would I Lie to You?, 8 Out of 10 Cats, and Have I Got News for You, before graduating to Britain’s only stand-up program, Live at the Apollo. When Mock the Week ended in 2015, there was a growing trend in bookers relying heavily on established names and comedy-adjacent figures like actors and broadcasters to fill TV spots. By the time the pandemic hit, they had a new way of finding up-and-coming comedians, from home and with audience analytics upfront. Privilege was once part of the job spec for British comedians, but now, TikTok and Instagram Reels host a wealth of comedy talent, and the barrier to creating your own sketches has never been lower.
The announcement of the Saturday Night Live UK cast signals another encouraging step toward new voices in UK comedy. With the line-up being mostly unknown, it’s exciting for viewers to discover new favorites, be exposed to new styles of humor, and for performers to have the chance to make their mark. If successful and extended beyond the initial six-episode season, Saturday Night Live UK could become the much-needed bridge between social media or small comedy clubs and prestigious slots on British television.
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The 'SNL UK' Cast May Have a Hard Time Winning Audiences Over
Saturday Night Live UK has the potential to catapult the careers of its comedians, but the cast faces a tough climb to reach that point. In the UK, viewers tend to adopt a “guilty until proven innocent” mindset, expecting comedians to pass the test of making them laugh rather than simply being open to entertainment. From the start, the SNL cast has been met with skepticism. As they haven’t proven themselves on screen before, some viewers are almost gleefully ready to watch them fail. Culturally, Britain sometimes has “tall poppy syndrome,” where those who achieve highly are criticized, resented, and “cut down” to a more equal level. Take James Corden, for example. Once the fun underdog of the sitcom Gavin & Stacey, he faced national resentment when he found success in America with The Late Late Show, as if some audience members believed his fame was owed to them.
Unfortunately, the performers also face a practical challenge. The series will air on Sky, a paid-for subscription service, so viewership is limited from the outset. Without a membership, audiences will be unable to watch the full program and will instead likely encounter isolated clips on social media, lacking wider context and accompanied by vocal comment sections. It is a bold gamble to launch a new comedy series, one that has been hugely successful in the U.S. for more than 50 years, with entirely fresh faces on a platform that not every household can access.
Sky announcing Saturday Night Live UK with a cast of relatively unknown names is a rare and exciting move in British comedy. For fans, it could be the chance to discover new favorites. For the cast themselves, it represents a genuine make-or-break opportunity to secure their careers and perform for live audiences, something unavailable on any other British TV series. SNL UK could also act as a new pipeline into the industry, promoting the very best from all walks of life, backgrounds, and income brackets. It could help break the cycle of British television favoring performers based solely on which university they attended at age 18. Not every sketch will land, and the cast aren’t highly experienced, but that’s not a bad thing. Will audiences embrace a completely unknown cast, or will they refuse to warm to them? Either way, SNL UK is about to shake up the British comedy scene for the better.
Release Date October 11, 1975
Showrunner Lorne Michaels
Directors Dave Wilson, Don Roy King, Liz Patrick, Andy Warhol, Linda Lee Cadwell, Matthew Meshekoff, Paul Miller, Robert Altman, Robert Smigel
English (US) ·