SNL UK: Ncuti Gatwa/Holly Humberstone (05.16.2026)

House Showing at 10 Downing St.

• Pretty simple and easy concept for a cold open, just having Emma as a realtor showing one of the top contenders for Kier Starmers' job around his house...while he is home in bed.

• Hey, Paddy makes his actual live sketch debut with actual lines! Don't worry, Ania. You may get your chance next season. I got a kick out ol' Pads confidently striding through the door in a posh manner while carrying an old, cartoony hobo bindle.

• Sadly, I'm not too familiar with whichever politicians Paddy or Jack are playing but I don't feel I need to know much about them or who they are other than they're all former Parliament members angling to unseat Starmer and become Great Britains' next Prime Minister. 

• I do know know who Liz Truss us well enough to have gotten a kick out if Annabels' portrayal of her hiding in a cupboard. 

• I also did get a kick out of Jack's line about  how his personal "T" in LGBT stands for "texting Peter Mandleson".

• ...and, of course, any appearance from Celestes' Angela Rayner and George's Kier Starmer is always fun (although not all of George's speech here worked that well for me).

• Not bad, just not the most original or clever premise for a cold open SNL UK has tried in its first season...but perfectly acceptable seeing that this is their first season finale. I can see them wanting to get this out of the way so they can ease into the summer. C+

Monologue

• Ncuti exudes an effortless charisma and makes a strong impression right out of the gate. 

• I liked his version of the standard "host runs down the highlights of their career and names some joke dreams roles of theirs" more than most.

• I got a kick out if his "man who was mistakenly interviewed by BBC News" impression.

• The Aimee Lou Wood cameo was nice but didn't quite add too much. They were both in "Sex Education", so it makes sense.

• The Hamlet go-go dance was s bit predictable but a fun ending to a monologue and a nice way to keep up the energy and pacing of the show up top. B+

Birds Of Praise Gospel Choir

• It's very nice that they could get Ncuti to participate in a black centric piece that showcases SNL UKs black cast. It's a shame this ended up being just the first of Hammeds' only two appearances of the night, though. At least Larry, Jack and Emma provided some great assists.

• I was able to follow this just well enough to get what it was going for. The line about white guilt being very profitable stood out as the tone-setting line. The only thing bringing this down was how on the first watch the intent behind it seemed just convoluted and muddled enough that it almost feels like Michael Che could've written this for SNL US.

• Still, I feel like I get the basic gist of this predominantly black organization not just being a professional choir but also a professional business that specializes in predominantly white events that are in DESPERATE need of inspirational music to make said white people appear more soulful...even if they have to hold back on that true gospel sound to make whites feel less afraid. I did like the sudden "Come On Eileen" cover.

• The idea that the massive widespread George Floyd protests of 2020 led to hard times for this business is where it got a bit muddled conceptually but it worked on rewatch...just like the idea that the even more oppressive nature of the second Trump presidency led to a sudden resurgence for them instantly clicked. You have to keep in mind this particular choir is only hired for acts of ceremonial acts of white self flagellation which definitely would've spiked around these times. C+

Thomas & Friends Vs. The Fat Controller

• Hmm...I'm kind of torn on this sketch. It wasn't my favorite of the night, but it had its moments. 

• Al turned in a great performance with a lot of rapid fire dialogue he handled well and the Ringo Starr impression by George was a real highlight of this, but his, Ncuti and Ayoades' callous snark toward Als' character can kind of wear thin after a bit.

• Celeste and Emma's cameos felt needlessly tacked on and the ending was executed pretty clumsily. C-

Looking Theroux The Mirror

• Should we get started?

• OK, well...we know SNL UK is aware of Jimmy Fallons' Mick Jagger impression...which leads me to think that the Fallon/Jagger mirror sketch from December 2001 may be viewable online over there (along with possibly the Maya/Kamala mirror sketch and the Grande/Fineman/Carvey Jennifer Coolidge three way mirror sketch from roughly a year and a half ago...maybe the official SNL YouTube account isn't totally geoblocked over there?)

• Anyway, I'm sure SNL UK is aware what big hits those sketches were for SNL US at one time, so I can't blame them for wanting to do their own viral version of it but adapted to one of their own well known cultural figures who may not be as well known internationally.

• I'm not even going to get on their case for directly lifting something from SNL US because when SNL US did it they were lifting it directly from an old Lucille Ball/Groucho Marx routine that even then was practically as old as vaudeville.

• I will commend SNL UK for pulling off a version of this that feels more reminiscent of their own Jools Holland piece from a couple of months ago and has a similar feeling of "castmates bonding over having impressions of the same person they all want to get on the show" (or just two castmembers and a host in this specific case).

• Kudos to the show for giving Larry another impression showcase piece. I'd say of all the roles he's played on this show, this is the one he disappeared into the most. Al and Ncuti played off him expertly. (Can I say that? Is that fair to say?)

• I'll admit that I wasn't familiar with Mr. Therouxs' work before seeing this sketch, but some light Googling reveals he has quite an extensive and intriguing IMDb of prior work I wish I'd seen more of. I saw his "Inside The Manosphere" documentary pop up on Netflix and have added it to my queue. Maybe I'll check that out some time.

• It's nice to see that they got Louis himself to make a cameo in this. He was a good sport to do so considering this was built around a few small yet exaggerated idiosyncrasies of his that (especially to those unfamiliar with him or his work) make his interviews seem...well, not so much "awkward" as just overly conscientious. You may get the impression that Louis Theroux spends his interviews sort of walking on eggshells around his subjects but you can still tell this was written from a place of admiration and respect (or else he wouldn't have appeared in it as himself).

• What seemed truly odd to me from purely a live rundown perspective is how they waited until both after the next pretape and the commercial break to have Ncuti, Louis and Larry all walk off the set and introduce the first performance ftom Holly Humberstone (who wasn't that bad or anything, just...had a little more of a generic, nondescript Gracie Abrams/Maggie Rogers type sound to her than I was expecting Can I say that? Is that fair to say?) B-

When Blobbys' Attack

• This might have been my favorite pretape of the night (as much as it took a rewatch or two to piece together some crucial narrative elements of it).

• I am familiar enough with the incomprehensible nightmare creature that is "Blobby" to be able to get a laugh out of a sudden undiscovered horde of him/it viciously attacking random coal workers' who's mines just got shut down because they were just discovered.

• Am I the only one who got slight "Ghostwatch" vibes from this?

• George was great in this and Hammed was pretty solid. It's a shame Hammed couldn't be in any live sketches this week though

• My only other complaint at first (aside from some noticeable Gen A.I. being used) was that I thought Annabels' impression of Noel Edmond felt like it could've been cut because it made this feel slightly jumbled. 

• Then, upon rewatch I noticed that Annabels' Noel Edmonds does serve a crucial plot point in that he is the only one who can somehow tame or calm any living Blobby and suddenly I turned around on it. Other than that, not a bad sketch...just doesn't hold up that well on a rewatch. B+

Weekend Update w/Paddy & Ania

• Paddys' Best Jokes: Wes Streeting, Lib Dems, Eric Morecambe Tribute, Record Breaker

• Anias' Best Jokes: Leadership Bid, Starmer Meets With Streeting, Angela Rayner, UFO Footage, Giant Sex Toys

• Anyone else think those jokes about that days' protest sound like the type of Jan 6 reference we'd get on SNL US?

• OK, I'm still not crazy about Emma's "woman who can't be ignored", but kudos to SNL UK for landing their first non-impression recurring character.

• Is it just me or does Paddys' Eric Morecambe Tribute sound more like an updated for 2011 version of the types of boozy Nick the lounge singer type of "Happy Birthday" songs Bill Murray would do on Update.

• There wasn't much to Als' Eurovision judge commentary but I did like the brief burst of absurd silliness to it.

• There didn't seem to be a lot to Ayoades' commentary either, but I did get a kick out of her Lily Allen remarks and her Paddy put downs. 

• The cameo appearance from the actual money saving expert Martin Lewis was nice. Having heard about this guy, I'm impressed he has a whole prime time network series of his own and saddened to think that here were primarily on TV here in the states (instead of just social media) he'd get punted off to either CNBC at best or some syndicated late night infomercial on a local affiliate station at worst. 

• This wasn't a great update to end the season on, but I did like Ania exiting the scene by being airlifted into the sky like she was being rescued by helicopter but then Paddy left the desk by doing the Mike Meyers "walking down stairs" but. C+

Ncuti Gatwa Is The New James Bond

• OK, well...even though SNL US already did their own blatant Shrek nostalgia piece nearly two and a half years ago when Bad Bunny first hosted, this doesn't feel that odd when I inevitably compare and contrast this to that one.

• This one wasn't just nakedly about capitalizing on shameless Millenial/GenZ pop culture nostalgia for the sake of viral clicks as the Please Don't Destroy short was. Hell, this one still hasn't been released as a standalone YouTube clip yet.

• This one actually worked better because had some absurdist yet stickingly prescient commentary to make on how certain vocal segments of the moviegoing public (on both sides of the pond, really) notoriously have some trouble accepting any actors of color in prominent leading roles (especially when it comes to naked cash grab reboots of/sequels to legacy IP).

• George was obviously the best choice to anchor this as the director. He sold the convoluted mania of it just as well as Ncuti sold the "increasingly less game and more and more baffled at the concept and poor direction" vibe of his character.

• I did get a kick out of Emma switching back and forth between Dame Judi Dench & The Gingerbread Man. Jack as Pinocchio and Al as Puss In Boots didn't do a whole lot for me but I liked the idea of Larry as Eddie Murphys' donkey being thrown out as Ncutis' "last straw" moment.

• I guess I may have needed to be familiar with whoever Allison Hammond is in order to appreciate the ending but it was really just a small button that didn't add or detract much from the sketch as a whole. B-

Breakdancing Explosion

• Anyone else getting slight John Early vibes from seeing Jack Shep in that wig in semi-drag as an average suburban mom?

• Well, I liked the lore of this sketch involving a witches' curse and the ending involving Jack, Ncuti, Ayoade & Annabel exploding into pure orbs of celestial energy (Emma's explanation of this may have been the biggest laugh I got from her in the whole series).

• I also liked the brief visual of Jack being replaced by a professional breakdancer with many, many more tattoos than he has in real life. 

• Other than that, this just quickly devolved into a laundry list of references to various British pop stars I'm not familiar with at all, so...I can't really say this totally worked for me. Still, it had a lot of energy and it was far from the worst possible sketch they could've ended their entire first season on. C+

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. Ncuti Gatwa/Holly Humberstone (05.16.2026)
4. Tina Fey/Wet Leg (03.21.2026)
5. Nicola Coughlan/Foo Fighters (04.25.2026)
6. Riz Ahmed/Kasabian (04.05.2026)
7. Aimee Lou Wood/MEEK (05.02.2026)
8. Jack Whitehall/Jorja Smith (04.11.2026)

Overall Thoughts 

• This one was a bit uneven in spots (especially compared to last week) but Ncuti was a fantastic host who easily elevated a lot of the material and blended in seamlessly with this cast.

• Not everything hit this week, but what hit really hit well. It's funny that Aimee Lou Wood made a cameo two weeks after hosting because when I compare this episode to hers, the highs were higher and the lows weren't quite as low.

• Still, this was a decent way to end the very first season of a modern transatlantic televised sketch comedy experiment that was heartwarmingly (and somewhat surprisingly successful).

• Aside from Hammed and Celeste being used quite a bit less, cast usage remains stable and everyone seems to have gotten to play a unique role or characterization that was specifically tailored to them.

Closing Thoughts 

• Well, since SNL UK is confirmed to be coming back in September (and as far as we know, SNL US may return around the same time as well) my blogging output will be decreased as it usually is over the summer, but I will still continue to post full lentgh reviews of each of the SNL US season 33 episodes that Deej & I will be covering on the We Heart Hader podcast.

• Next up for us on this part of our podcasting journey this year will be the Elliot Page/Wilco and Amy Adams/Vampire Weekend episodes which, in an unprecedented move that no other SNL related podcast has done before, we will combine into one single podcast covering both episodes! The reason why we're doing this should be obvious to some of you, but just in case, I've written a recent mini blog about which you can read here.

• See you again real soon!