SNL UK reveals cast members as comedy show gets set to launch next month
The cast for Sky’s Saturday Night Live adaptation has been announced
Actors and comedians with credits including Starstruck, Big Boys and Black Ops have been named among the inaugural cast of Saturday Night Live UK, the first ever British adaptation of the iconic US late-night comedy showcase coming to Sky next month.
Emma Sidi (Starstruck), Jack Shep (Big Boys) and Hammed Animashaun (Black Ops) will be part of the 11-strong troupe that features in the six-part series, which debuts on Sky and streamer Now on March 21.
The SNL UK cast also includes Ayoade Bamgboye (Rise & Shine with Channel 9), Larry Dean (Live at the Apollo), Celeste Dring (Lazy Susan), George Fouracres (Steve), Ania Magliano (Taskmaster), Annabel Marlow (Six The Musical), Al Nash (Michael McIntyre’s Big Show) and Paddy Young (Everyone Else Burns).
Reimagining SNL through a British lens, each episode will be written, rehearsed and performed in the week of each show, before it is staged in front of a live studio audience. Regular features include an opening monologue, topical sketches, live music and a homegrown take on SNL’s news satire, Weekend Update.
Sky previously appointed UK comedy veteran Lisa Clark as SNL UK’s commissioning executive, with James Longman (lead producer), Liz Clare (director) and Daran Jonno Johnson (head writer) leading the show’s production, direction and writing teams. Writers on the show will be announced soon.
Confirming the show’s cast, Longman said: “The UK is absolutely packed with incredible comedy talent right now and this cast represents the freshest voices we have. They’re bold, exciting and, of course, incredibly funny. The chemistry between them is something special and we can’t wait to share this funny group of people with the world.”
SNL UK will be produced by Universal Television Alternative Studio (UTAS)’s UK production team and Broadway Video for Sky and Now. SNL US creator Lorne Michaels is executive producing.
UTAS UK is overseen by MD Helen Kruger Bratt. Shanna Baynard is executive in charge of production and Andy Charles Smith is the lead producer for UTAS UK alongside production executive Sam Salter. SNL UK was commissioned by Phil Edgar-Jones, executive director of unscripted originals and Lisa Clark, commissioning executive at Sky, for Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of Sky Studios and chief content officer for Sky.
Edgar-Jones added: “We all need a laugh like never before, so we’re beyond excited to bring Saturday Night Live to the UK, only 50 short years after it first launched in the US. The show’s long-standing legacy of discovering and nurturing outstanding comedy talent speaks for itself, and this UK version will build on that legacy with the support of Lorne Michaels, a brilliant local production team, and an exciting new generation of voices.”
