SNL UK: Hannah Waddingham/Myles Smith (05.09.2026)

Ten Downing Street: May 2046

• Hey, a Peter Serafinowicz cameo! Very nice! As expected, he does a solid Nigel Farage impression.

• I mean, it is a little troubling to see SNL UK seemingly start their own version of the recent-ish SNL US trend of bringing in seemingly random celebrities to play prominent and widely disliked right wing political figures, but I don't mind it here because SNL UK does have sharper political writing than SNL US. 

• As long as they're just showcasing underrated British comedians who may be less known stateside and not just getting big names to overshadow the actual cast, I'm fine with this type of cameo. Maybe Peter could also host an entire episode of SNL UK and we could get a Brian Butterfield sketch? That would certainly be great!

• I'm not that familiar with whoever Ayoade is playing, but it doesn't really hinder my appreciation of this sketch since I pretty much know what it's going for.

• I get a kick out of the idea that these two assholes have used their power to turn 2046 London into a burnt out, post apocalyptic husk of its former self. Heck, I even like to imagine that this sketch takes place in the same universe as Mitchell & Webbs' "Quiz Broadcast" sketches and that this may be a prequel to them meant to show how "the event" was caused (REMAIN INDOORS! DO NOT THINK ABOUT THE EVENT!)

• This also turned out to be a good way to sneak in George's Starmer, Celestes' Rayner and Als' Churchill again (although the "Big Ang" and "Big Chungus" references were a little odd and dated).

• Heck, I even liked the self-deprecating meta comment on SNL UKs' recent renewal. Other than that, this was a fairly ambitious cold open that got off to a strong start and knew where to stop once it had no other place to go. B-

Monologue

• There wasn't a whole lot to this monologue, but Hannah put it over flawlessly.

• She had the best energy and most infectious enthusiasm out if any SNL UK host I've seen so far.

• I liked how clever the "high heels" gag was and how she glossed over her "glamorous" acting roles (did she also play Barry Gibb at one point?). 

• I didn't know she landed a small part on Game Of Thrones at one point, but hey, good on her for striking while the iron was actually hot there.

• The different accents she pulled off while showing us what her "fantasy roles" would be was the highlight of this. She even managed to maintain her poise while doing a Chewbacca impression! A-

Sunburnt Lawyers

• This was just such a gleefully stupid and anachronistic concept on paper that it just had to work in execution! The reason it did work was through sheer commitment to such a simple premise.

• Among my favorite moments were their interaction with Celeste, Emmas' bits with the wig and later with the fan in Larry's office, Hannah's line "my skin feels like the sound of bees", Jacks simple reaction of "wot?" to Hannah and Emma applying some kind of sunscreen or ointment to their skin in court and of course the reveal that their sunburns always help them win the case. B-

End Of Year Musical

• It actually took me a minute or two to tell Annabel & Emma apart from each other because Annabel just seemed to be doing the exact same voice and mannerisms that Emma did as her character "Juggs" from the bra fitting sketch in the premiere with Tina.

• After having recently heard about Annabels background in musical theater and her great singing/vocal abilities, I figured out quickly that was her as the other teacher. Plus, I just as quickly figured out Emma was playing one if the students and realized I still can tell them apart facially.

• At first, this reminded me a bit of that really dumb "Hip Hop Nativity" sketch from Billie Eillishs' SNL US episode (similar setup and wardrobe choices) but thankfully this switched gears real quick and focused up on something more nuanced.

• They say the third season of Ted Lasso basically became Jason Sudeikis just using the show to work out his own personal issues surrounding his divorce from Olivia Wilde once he took over as showrunner. I wonder if this sketch was purposely written as a meta commentary on that?

• This was a pretty simple and straightforward premise really but Hannah and Annabels' showing off their pipes really put this over for me. I did like Hannah's line about having once starred in a knockoff of Beauty & The Beast called "Pretty Girl, Big Dog".

• This really picked up once Hannah and Annabel invited Jack, Ayoade, Emma and Celestes' characters to rehearse the group number that unsubtly shades all of them (although I could've done without their whole "we're not gonna say why" speech to Jack's character). B+

Speed Awareness Course

• Two sketches in a row that involve Hannah's characters teaching a class of students? Both of which just involve her character just...unloading her personal life on her students through her lesson plan? OK. Odd rundown so far, but I'm not complaining...

• As much as this seemed to borrow from and soften up those "job seekers" sketches from The League Of Gentleman (which thankfully none of this cast will be soon thanks to the recent series two renewal), I enjoyed this for how much Hannah threw herself into this role, the odd little details of all her temptations to get the class to speed, and of course, how they payoff was essentially a becyclopsed Al Nash entering the scene (in the same outfit he wore in that OG radio sketch) to confirm that every detail Hannah's character dropped about her own odd family life is 100% true.

• Hell, I can even relate to the "six hour exams" part since my full time job heavily involves proctoring those...but perhaps I say too much? Oh well, that's gonna have to be a story for another time.

• Even the button on this sketch was relevant to everything that proceeded it. This turned out to be a PSA against speeding rather than for the polar opposite of the thing that was just shown. Well done. A+

Daniel Day Lewis & The Triplets

• As odd as it felt seeing either iteration of SNL come back from a commercial and go straight into a pretape, this turned out to be one of the more quietly brilliant pieces of the night. 

• Kudos to Larry for getting to land another impression on the show (although I think they could've tightened up or shortened the "it's not about the yogurts" speech before the big reveal).

• Of course, George played off Larry AND Emma brilliantly. I especially liked Als' line about how he feels such an intense emotional connection to the show "Young Sheldon" went on to be a set designer for that show.

• My other favorite moments were the lines from Larry about "repeated six month comas" and an "Abraham Lincoln phase" and of course the reveal that Reese Witherspoon got the part he was up for followed by the "There Will Be Blood" family photo. B-

Weekend Update w/Paddy & Ania

• Paddys' Best Jokes: Young People, Starmers' Image Problem, Met Gala, Texting Joke

• Anias' Best Jokes: Election Results/Reform Party, PM Under Pressure, Minister Warns, Katy Perry, Nolan Odyssey, Yogurt As Junk Food?, Horse Meat

• I liked Als' commentary as brief as it was. It felt more like a bit designed for Jack but I could see the need for Al to play a middle aged conservative leaning voter. Also, I feel like I have just enough cultural context for what this was going for since we apparently have plenty of people in the states who were too afraid to admit publicly that they just straight up voted for Trump for any reason out of fear of social backlash.

• Jack's commentary as the character "Scrimpsch" feels the absolute most like something that we could've seen done on SNL US the UK show has done so far. I could definitely see either Marcello or (more likely) Bowen having done this in the past year or so (or hell, maybe even Fred Armisen if this were 23 years ago) but he actually makes this work much better than either of them would have. I was able to get into this just enough to get how Jack was making Ania break. 

• I liked his lines about wishing wells and ants as well as how he kept skipping ahead to random numbers like nine and seventeen when he was listing off his tips. I also liked the detail that he was left behind on a class trip from Europe and no one (not even his parents) bothered to look for him

• One odd thing about this is how I could only recognize every other song that he was parodying. I could pick out the tunes of "It's Hard Out Here For A Scrimpsch" and Natasha Beddingfields' "Unwritten" but not the other two.

• OK, the wrestling match between Hammeds' Rhino and George's Attenborough is definitely the highlight of this episode if not the entire run of SNL UK so far. 

• True, this does feel like any combination of Bowen, Sarah, Marcello or Mikey could have done this but Hammed and George definitely made this work better by framing this as a "Ric Flair vs El Niño" style wrestling match instead of a Springer-style daytime trash TV confrontation and just generally leaning into the whole "damn, they didn't have to go THAT hard" vibe.

• Great job by the Ghosh brothers from Quality Wrestling Academy in Portsmouth for choreographing that and also appearing in it. B+

Phantom Of The Foot Locker

• I wanted to like this more since it's another out there, goofy premise that also functions as a showcase for Al Nash (who comitted to this well as did Hannah who had the theater background to pull this off but sadly, I don't think this went anywhere.

• Yes, they captured the haunting, ethereal vibes of "Phantom of the Opera" well and transplanted them into a random British Foot Locker with ease...but sadly, this sketch was kinda flat and just...there.

• The gag with Hannah's daughter revealing she has a Phantom like face mask of her own was the most telegraphed joke I've seen on this show so far. George's line about hoping Hannah and Al don't rekindle their old love through music comes in a close second. C-

Glasses Of Wine

• Wow, right into a Wilson Phillips style song. Ok.

• Celeste was borderline unrecognizable here at first but she managed to steal the show. I liked how she went into the audience...and was apparently so drunk even she didn't know if she was playing herself or a character.

• I guess this was another showcase for Annabel and Hannah's singing talents, so it was nice of them to cede some of the spotlight to Ayoade & Celeste so they could have their moments.

• I also liked how this progressed through about four different stages of drunkenness and escalated uniquely as it went on.

• Nice number to end the episode on, too. I liked how the melody of the song just bled into the closing credits. B-

Ranking SNL UKs First Series From Best To Worst

1. Jamie Dornan/Wolf Alice (03.28.2026)
2. Hannah Waddingham/Myles Smith (05.09.2026)
3. Nicola Coughlan/Foo Fighters (04.25.2026)
4. Tina Fey/Wet Leg (03.21.2026)
5. Riz Ahmed/Kasabian (04.05.2026)
6. Aimee Lou Wood/MEEK (05.02.2026)
7. Jack Whitehall/Jorja Smith (04.11.2026)

Overall Thoughts 

• This was an astounding episode and a huge step up from the previous week's episode with Aimee Lou Wood. Most everything hit well and Hannah was an outstanding host who the show knew how to instantly tap into the strengths of. 

• She elevated a lot of the show and I would definitely like to see her host again as soon as possible. Myles Smith was decent. Even if I'm not too crazy about his music, it's nice to come across an actual British musical guest on this show that I've somehow already heard and still didn't know I'd recognize until I saw heard him perform live.

• As far as cast usage, no one really dominated but Al, George and Jack came close. This episode also seemed to be a strong showcase for the women (even Ayoade in more supporting roles).

Closing Thoughts 

• The next episode of SNL UK(which will probably air later tonight at this point) will be the first hosted by Ncuti Gatwa. It's a pretty big get for this show to get the current Dr. Who to close out their first season, so this should be a fun episode.

• Of course, SNL UK also has Will Ferrel and Paul McCartney for theie own season finale the same night which is equally exciting (as guarded as my excitement for such an episode can be) and you'll probably end up being able to read my review of Ferrells episode before yiu read my review if Ncutis (or possibly at the same time, who knows?)

• Also, we're switching around the next two episodes of the We Heart Hader Podcast for reasons that should seem obvious but will be fully explained by me in another seperate blog post before the next episode comes out very soon. See you then!