Detailed doc sent to comedy community outlining what it wants and how to apply
Saturday Night Live UK is seeking to cast “fresh, exciting” writers and actors above established talent, as details emerge of the shape of its cast and writing team.
Sky revealed last month that it had commissioned a UK edition of the iconic US sketch comedy series from the London-based team of Universal Television Alternative Studio (UTAS) UK and SNL creator Lorne Michaels’ outfit Broadway Video, which is set to air next year.
The UK series is set to follow the same live, fast-paced style of the iconic sketch and comedy variety-focused original, with celebrity hosts, musical guests and a core cast of the brightest and best comedians.
In an application document seen by Broadcast, the producers want to cast up-and-coming comedians and comedy actors over “super established” talent and are keen to hear from performers who can show off multiple skill sets.
Alongside the sketch cast, producers are seeking performers who sit in the news and political comedy landscape, likely to front the equivalent of SNL US’s satirical news section Weekend Update.
Cast applicants are asked to send a self-tape of no more than five minutes, in which they demonstrate material that best shows off their strengths, whether that be character, music, impression, narrative or topical. Established acts are also requested to submit self-tapes “out of fairness”.
The deadline for self-tape submissions is Friday 9 May, with a final list of acts then assembled to perform at two showcases set to take place in London at the start of July.
Writer criteria
Writers are expected to be able to deliver “brilliantly fresh, acutely relevant, funny material” in a fast turnaround live comedy environment.
Interested applicants are asked to submit three bespoke sketches: one a topical piece, one a parody and the third a piece on anything that “best shows off their talent or point of view”.
Candidates are asked to cast each sketch with a potential SNL guest host, with a preference for a British or Irish host rather than American.
The submission deadline for writers is tomorrow, Friday 2 May.
Applicants can submit for both cast and writer roles, and successful candidates must be fully available from mid-January to early April 2026.
Although production teams for SNL UK are to be decided, UTAS’s Helen Kruger-Bratt, who heads up the London and Australian-based teams, is overseeing the production of the UK adaptation.
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