When a brand-new British sketch comedy institution needs someone to make a grand entrance, apparently the answer is to reach all the way across the Atlantic, dress them in a Victorian nanny costume, and lower them from the ceiling on a harness. That is precisely what Sky One has done to announce the arrival of Saturday Night Live UK, and the result is a promo clip already generating considerable buzz ahead of the show’s premiere this Saturday, March 21.
In the Sky One promo, the 11-person SNL UK cast is puzzling over how best to spread the word about the series premiere when Tina Fey, costumed as the iconic Mary Poppins, floats down from the rafters of the show’s legendary TC1 Studio. The bit lands with the kind of self-aware absurdism that longtime fans of the original American institution will immediately recognize, a show advertising itself by pretending not to know it’s a commercial.
Descending from the studio ceiling in full Poppins regalia, Fey exclaims “Did someone say Poppins?” before announcing that Nanny has arrived with everything needed for a practically perfect premiere, and then opting to drop her fake British accent entirely. It is a savvy comedic pivot, acknowledging right out of the gate that an American attempting a posh English accent for an actual British audience is perhaps not the wisest opening gambit.
From deep inside Poppins’ famously bottomless carpet bag, Fey produces a series of increasingly absurd items. Among them: an endless magician’s scarf, a requisite wig, a floor lamp, a crown offered up in case the cast wants to “do royal stuff,” a “really long shoe,” an eel pie with extra eel for cast member Jack Shep, and, of course, the Epstein Files, which cast members Paddy Young and Ania Magliano eagerly claim. She also pulls out a classic SNL cue card reading, “I’m Tina Fey and I’m hosting SNL UK this week. Why? Because I thought it would get me dual citizenship. It did not.”
The joke lands as a sharp bit of self-deprecation from someone who is perhaps the single most qualified person on the planet to bridge the gap between the American original and its British offspring. Fey is a former writer, cast member, and Weekend Update anchor of SNL who returned to host six times, earning 10 Emmy Awards including two for hosting the sketch comedy series itself.
The promo ends with cast member Annabel Marlow pointing out that Fey had asked every single cast member to marry her, at which point the ensemble holds up their left hands displaying engagement rings. Fey’s Poppins then bids the cast farewell, reopens her umbrella, and attempts to float back up into the rafters, grumbling that the harness “really hurts my crotch.” It is, in short, exactly the kind of joke the original SNL would be proud of.
The clip arrives as anticipation builds for a show years in the making. Saturday Night Live UK is executive produced by Lorne Michaels, the architect of the original American institution, and will air live from Television Centre in London’s TC1 Studio, the same storied space where the BBC has produced landmark television for decades. The first six-episode series kicks off March 21 on Sky One and NOW at 10pm GMT, with episodes streaming on Peacock in the United States the following day.
The show’s eleven-person ensemble cast includes Hammed Animashaun, Ayoade Bamgboye, Larry Dean, Celeste Dring, George Fouracres, Ania Magliano, Annabel Marlow, Al Nash, Jack Shep, Emma Sidi, and Paddy Young. Young and Magliano have been confirmed as the co-anchors of the UK version of Weekend Update, with lead producer James Longman describing their on-screen chemistry as “really fun and lovely.” A team of 20 staff writers will support the cast, led by Head Writer Jonno Johnson, with Charlie Skelton serving as Weekend Update Head Writer.
The first three guest host and musical guest pairings have been confirmed. Fey leads the debut episode alongside indie rock duo Wet Leg, followed by Jamie Dornan with Wolf Alice on March 28, and Riz Ahmed with Kasabian on April 4. Sky’s executive director of unscripted originals, Phil Edgar Jones, summed up the mood in a statement, noting that audiences need a laugh like never before and that Saturday nights are looking bright.
Whether SNL UK will endure long enough to one day produce its own Tina Fey remains to be seen. Bookmakers Coral have set odds of 1-2 for the series being scrapped after its first run, a scepticism that contrasts sharply with enthusiastic online chatter from fans already declaring the British version could outshine the original. For now, however, a woman in a Mary Poppins costume dangling from a studio ceiling while complaining about harness chafing is as promising a debut as any new comedy venture could hope for.
Saturday Night Live UK premieres Saturday, March 21, on Sky One and NOW at 10pm GMT. U.S. viewers can stream episodes on Peacock starting Sunday, March 22.
