The first episode of Saturday Night Live UK went down a storm with both viewers and critics.

Over the weekend, SNL launched its UK counterpart with Tina Fey as the inaugural guest host.

While there may have initially been questions raised about how well the format would translate across the Atlantic, the episode has received a wave of praise – and pulled in some impressive viewing figures.

According to BARB data, SNL UK had a 3.2% share, with just shy of a quarter of a million people watching live on Saturday night.

While at first glance, this figure (226,000 viewers) might seem a little on the low side, it’s important to keep in mind that these are big numbers for a pay-TV channel like Sky.

Impressively, SNL UK also managed to pull in a bigger audience than Channel 4’s offering in the same timeslot, the Mission: Impossible movie Rogue Nation.

Critical reception to the episode has also been pretty positive.

The Guardian gave it three stars, as did The Independent, with the former calling the broadcast promising for the rest of the series and “refreshing” in its ambitiousness, while the latter praised its “willingness to push the envelope” and “notes of new ingredients that could offer something fresh”.

Meanwhile, The Telegraph was even more impressed, calling the show “shockingly competent” in its own four-star review, while Metro claimed that SNL UK was an “astonishing achievement” that “might just mark the beginning of a new era in British comedy”.

A slightly more critical piece in The Times said: “This show’s success could only ever be a good thing. That day might come, and there are small signs in this first outing that it might. I do not want to condemn this whole endeavour outright. But the spark is not there yet.”

This piece also argued that if the show leans more into its British sensibilities, “we could be in business here”. “SNL UK needs work, but I’m not giving up on it yet,” its critic concluded.

However, reviews from US outlets seemed less enthused with the British spin-off.

Deadline called it “painful” and “beyond seriously unfunny”, while Variety, like The Times, pointed out the show was at its best when it “took the basics of what makes the US version successful – sketch comedy, rotating guest hosts and the unpredictability of live television – and left the Brits to it”.

Before episode one had even aired, it was announced that the first season of SNL UK had been extended by an additional two episodes.

Saturday Night Live UK will finally be hitting our screens this weekend – with the show’s first guest hosts and musical performers having now been announced.

Ahead of the series’ premiere on Saturday night, Sky has confirmed that SNL legend Tina Fey will be the UK spin-off’s very first presenter.

The premiere is in safe hands, as Tina worked as the head writer on the American version of SNL between 1997 and 2006. She has since gone on to host the US show six more times.

She will be joined by Brit Award winners Wet Leg as SNL UK’s inaugural musical guest.

Following Tina’s appearance as host, Fifty Shades Of Grey actor Jamie Dornan will be hosting the second episode, with Brit Award winners Wolf Alice joining him as the musical act.

Episode three will then be hosted by Oscar-nominated actor Riz Ahmed, with Kasabian serving as musical guests.

Lorne Michaels, who created SNL in 1975, will also work as the UK show’s executive producer, along with a team of 20 writers and a regular cast of 11 comedians, which includes Taskmaster alum Emma Sidi and Ania Magliano, Black Ops star Hammed Animashaun and TikTok fave Jack Shep.

SNL UK will follow the same format as the long-running American version, in which a new host each week performs sketches alongside the regular cast in front of a live studio audience.

Written the week of the filming, all 75-minute episodes will feature an opening monologue from the host, sketches, live performances from the musical act and a British take on SNL’s satirical news segment, Weekend Update.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today Show, one of the show’s producers, James Longman, said he hoped to offer some joy to viewers during “rough times”.

“It’s a perfect time for this kind of show. The world is rough out there at the moment, so it’s a really good time to laugh,” James said this morning, hinting that the show would feature plenty of topical and satirical laughs. “There’s so many things to be funny about, and so it’s just finding the right angle for us. The key for us is to be funny.”

SNL UK is due to begin this Saturday (March 21) on Sky and Now TV, and will run for six episodes.

Saturday Night Live is facing criticism over a recently-shared sketch making light of an incident which took place at the 2026 Baftas.

Over the weekend, SNL’s cast and guest host Connor Storrie took part in a skit referencing the moment in which Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson experienced an involuntary tic during this year’s Baftas and, as a result, shouted a racist slur while Sinners actors Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan were presenting on stage.

The sketch in question – which was cut for time, and didn’t air in the main SNL show, but was subsequently uploaded to the show’s YouTube channel – saw depictions of controversial figures including JK Rowling, Mel Gibson, Armie Hammer and Bill Cosby blaming their own past actions on having Tourette’s syndrome.

As footage of the skit became more widely-shared, it was met with immediate backalsh, including from Emma McNally, the chief executive officer of the UK charity Tourette’s Action.

In a statement provided to HuffPost UK, she said: “Over recent weeks, our community has faced an unprecedented wave of online trolling, misinformation, and targeted mockery.

“Following the extremely difficult events surrounding the Baftas, many people with Tourette’s have been struggling with fear, shame, isolation and a huge need to defend a condition they cannot control.

“We had hoped this would be a new week and we could move on but the release of further content online that has been designed to ridicule Tourette’s and reduce our community to a punchline has only deepened that hurt.”

“I want to be completely clear here this is not acceptable,” she continued. “Mocking a disability is never acceptable. It would not be tolerated for any other condition, and it should not be tolerated by people with Tourette’s.

“Tourette’s is a complex neurological condition, of which there is no cure. It is not a joke. It is not a personality trait. It is not a source of entertainment. It is a condition that can be extremely debilitating, causing pain isolation and huge amounts of discrimination.

“Videos and posts that deliberately misrepresent or sensationalise tics set us back years. A single video can undo the progress our community has spent years building toward greater awareness.

“I hope those creating these videos understand that they create real consequences for people in our community: fear, isolation, bullying, abuse, and a feeling among many that they must hide away to stay safe.”

The statement added: “The trolling and harassment members of our community have endured in the past few days has been horrific. People have been targeted with threats and humiliation simply for having a condition they did not choose. No one should ever be treated that way.

“These recent events have been painful for multiple communities, and I am not for one minute dismissing that hurt, but directing anger and ridicule to people with Tourette’s does nothing to heal that pain and does not move us forward.

“What we need right now is people to be kind. We need compassion, accurate information and above all, we need education.”

Read the full statement on Tourette’s Action’s socials below:

John Davidson recently posted his own statement about the Baftas on Facebook, writing: “Whilst I will never [apologise] for having Tourette syndrome, I will apologise for any pain, upset and misunderstanding that it may create.

“This past week has been tough, and has reminded me that what I do, raising awareness for such a misunderstood condition, there is still a long way to go and I will keep on keeping on until this is achieved.”

Meanwhile, after Delroy Lindo voiced his disappointment at how Bafta handled the situation, the organisation issued a public apology to the two Sinners actors for how things transpired, accepting “full responsibility”.