Saturday Night Live has been a staple of US comedy for over 50 years, bringing in waves of comedians and iconic sketches in the process. Now, for the first time, the show has crossed the pond and landed here in the UK with a new British version, boasting a cast of fresh-faced comics and eclectic celebrity hosts.
Now that the series has come to an end, it only makes sense to go through the best sketches from SNL UK’s stellar first season.
20. Falling Down a Hill with Helen Birch
Celeste Dring was one of the unsung powerhouses of this first season, and no sketch best showcases her capabilities than this quaint and simplistic skit. Presented in a way that mimics a harmless daytime TV documentary, this sketch relies heavily on deliberately trying to throw the audience off. You’re expecting her to fall down a hill the entire time, and the sketch tries to hold off from doing so for as long as it can, making the eventual tumble even funnier when it eventually happens.
19. Undérage Anti-Ageing Cream
SNL UK knew it had to come out of the gate swinging with its first episode, so the fact that the first proper sketch after Tina Fey’s monologue is a prolonged nonce joke is without a doubt the ballsiest move they could have ever taken. Yes, this sketch may have only one punchline, but the execution and brutality of said punchline made it a shockingly great opening sketch for the season.
18. Doctor Who Gone Wrong
Aimee Lou Wood’s episode offered consistently brilliant skits from start to finish, and one of those highlights was this parody of Doctor Who. From Aimee’s blunt delivery to Hammed Animashaun’s growing panic at the situation, and especially the grotesque design of the Tree of Knowledge, this sketch perfectly pokes fun at the show in a way Doctor Who fans and general audiences can appreciate.
17. Traitors: Great Big Crab Man
It only seems fair for SNL UK to lampoon arguably one of the biggest reality TV shows on air at the moment, and I think we can all agree they knocked it out of the park. The sketch makes an obvious jab at the contestants’ unconscious bias during the voting stages of the show, which is an issue that has been brought up before by many, but here it is dialled up to 11 with Riz Ahmed’s character calling out the stereotyping at play, and the true icing on the cake is George Fouracres dressed as the titular great big crab man.
16. Who Can Fly a Plane?
This is one of those wonderful examples of a sketch that keeps on giving. Starting with the initial premise of trying to find a passenger who can fly the plane home, the skit constantly finds new ways to outdo each joke it has to offer. The way all the men raise their hands only to put them back down again, as none of them has the experience required for the task, is an expected punchline but a brilliant one nonetheless, plus this skit features a cameo from Dave Grohl…what’s not to like?
15. The Last Supper
One of the first live sketches of the season, and my god did it leave an impression. The Last Supper concept allowed the entire cast to showcase their impersonation skills all within the context of a singular scene. Though some had more to do than others, the standout in most people’s eyes was Jack Shep’s uncanny Princess Diana, who ate up every bit of screen time in the best way possible. Even if some parts were falling flat, Jack’s cheeky Diana was the one thing that clicked with audiences and proved what this version of SNL had legs to stand on.
14. Operation
A lot of sketches this season, such as the Paddington Bear Immersive Experience or the Mr Blobby True Crime Documentary, really leaned into a darker, more jaded side of British comedy that I think a lot of people were not expecting from this show…and this Operation sketch is the perfect example of that. Part of the reason this premise works as well as it does is how it is played so seriously, from its bleak tone to Riz Ahmed’s dramatic performance; the sketch sells you on its dark approach despite it being about something so childish.
13. Daniel Day-Lewis (Preparing for a Role)
Out of all the cast members, Larry Dean proved to be the unsung hero of the season, popping up here and there with consistently funny moments, even if it was just for a second. This Daniel Day-Lewis skit sees Larry take centre stage with a solid impression that pokes fun at the actor’s renowned method acting prep work. The sketch is made even better by the reaction of the kids and the interjections from George Fouracres as the husband/father.
12. DadSwap
A staple of SNL is the commercial parody sketch, where a simple product is blown way out of proportion or turned on its head, and this UK version of the show gave us more than a few of these. Though many of them worked really well, the most effective had to be the DadSwap ad. This skit rides on a one-two punch that makes the joke work as well as it does. You have the app being used for a different purpose than originally intended, mixed with shots of the app’s founder losing the will to live as his creation is misused before his eyes.
11. OG FM Pirate Radio
Occasionally, the most effective sketches are the ones that play into the host’s skillset, and this one certainly does. The first half of the skit is funny enough with Riz Ahmed’s doctor constantly being cut off by the obnoxious radio hosts with their genuinely hilarious call-outs for listeners. However, the skit takes on new life as Riz Ahmed’s character learns to adapt and raps to the beat to get his message across. This sketch isn’t just funny, it’s downright impressive, especially to those who may not be aware of Riz’s hip hop work.
10. The Mascot Argument
Jack Whitehall’s episode saw a handful of sport-related sketches, and this one started things off in fantastic fashion. Taking a seemingly normal setting of footballers preparing to go on to the field and exchanging that with a petty argument over which child mascot they’d rather have is a great play on expectations that just gets better the more it gets out of control. It’s a simple joke that doesn’t rely on impressions or set pieces to make it work; it’s just a singular idea with solid execution from all involved.
9. Looking Theroux The Mirror
The finale gave us a decent selection of sketches to round off the season, but the highlight of the evening belonged to one brilliantly awkward skit… Is that fair to say? Similar to other skits throughout the season, this one gradually snowballs with a series of interviews between Louis Theroux and himself. The sketch really comes into its own the more his catchphrases are repeated, and also with an unexpected cameo from the man himself.
8. Mr Bagley
Parody sketches are nothing new, and there were a decent amount during this first season, but this Mr Bagley skit references something so uniquely British that it would only ever work on a show like this. What starts as a simple shot-for-shot remake of a viral Ian Wright documentary segment with his old school teacher quickly snowballs as more and more people enter the fray, including Harambe, Dobby, and a jogger he once hit with his car down a country lane.
7. 45 Seconds with Fouracres
Sometimes a joke hits because of its punchline. Sometimes a joke hits because of its setup. Sometimes a joke doesn’t need either of those things to work. Case in point, 45 Seconds with Fouracres. This seemingly random segment threw everyone off guard towards the end of the first episode and successfully gave the show its first viral earworm that people quoted for weeks after it aired. This one sketch proved to be so popular that it was brought back during Nicola Coughlan’s episode. So with all that said….what kind of Irish is your grandad?
6. Night Time Incident
Arguably the best sketch from Jamie Dornan’s episode, this one combines the strange, darker elements from the most effective skits in the series and boils them down into a truly absurd but hilarious piece of comedy. The way this skit is played for horror as an over-the-top portrayal of Jools Holland, played brilliantly by George Fouracres, torments this father and daughter is odd yet quintessentially British. Emma Sidi, as a demented Jessie J, also gets an honourable mention as well.
5. Mario Has Princess Problems
If you want an example of a truly unhinged sketch from SNL UK season one, then this is it. In theory, this sketch shouldn’t necessarily work, but the intensity of the Aimee Lou Wood’s Princess Peach matched with George Fouracre’s questionable Italian accent that gets gradually more insane as the skit goes on, results in a rather bizarre yet genuinely hysterical scene that is chaotic to say the least.
4. Live from QVC’s Jewellery Store
Emma Sidi continually proved throughout the series that she is a comedic force to be reckoned with, and nowhere was this more prominent than in this simple but effective QVC parody sketch. From the gradual reveal of each mutated hand to Emma’s panicked reactions, this sketch is bizarre but straightforward, made even more memorable by the commitment of everyone involved and Nicola Coughlan’s slight corpsing.
3. Royal Society of Literature
Some of the funniest skits from SNL UK have turned out to be the strangest ones, and this sketch is no exception. This skit has two elements working in its favour. First, you have the very idea of a seagull being compared to a vampire or a werewolf as a legitimately terrifying creature in the history of literature, which is funny in itself, but what really hammers the point home is George Fouracres, who plays a deshevled, bird poo-covered man who is consistently determined to justify seagulls as horrifying monsters…just because the bloody thing won’t leave him alone. This sketch purely rides on George’s deranged commitment to the bit, and it works so incredibly well because of it.
2. Weekend Update
Weekend Update has always been a reliable segment in the US version of this show, and thankfully, it translated seamlessly to the UK one. Ania Magliano and Paddy Young’s chemistry during these segments is playful and downright hilarious, allowing their delivery to do the heavy lifting around rather serious topics. On top of that, you have other cast members crashing the scene with their jokes or wacky characters, such as Jack Shep’s Scrimpch, Hammed Animashaun’s fake lip reader or Emma Sidi’s woman who can’t be ignored. Even during lacklustre episodes, Weekend Update consistently offered wall-to-wall laughs and would often be the highlight every week.
1. Mastermind
Harkening back to the classic Two Ronnies Mastermind sketch but with a modern twist, this skit does everything a good SNL piece should do. It doesn’t outstay its welcome, focusing on a singular punchline that anyone can relate to (things your mum says about people you have no connection to), and it is made funnier by its execution, doubling down on the joke at every given opportunity without ever going overboard.
SNL UK will return in September for its second season.
