Saturday Night Live UK Renewed for 12-Episode Second Season
Sky has given the green light to a second season of its British spin-off of the legendary sketch show Saturday Night Live.
The announcement follows strong behind-the-scenes enthusiasm at the network, even as the first season experienced ups and downs in the ratings. Sky is now committing to a full 12-episode run that will air across fall 2026 and into early 2027.
Lorne Michaels, the creator of the original SNL and executive producer on the UK version, shared his reaction: “I’m incredibly proud of our team and the show. It keeps getting better every week. I’m grateful to Dana Strong and Sky for believing in and supporting ‘SNL UK’ I’m excited for the season ahead.”
Sky CEO Dana Strong has been a passionate advocate for the series since day one, once describing it as “a point of pride.” She even attended Episode 5 in the studio audience when the show returned from a short break, hosted by Nicola Coughlan. That night also saw director JJ Abrams and his son among the crowd, highlighting how the live tapings have become a sought-after event for industry insiders in London.
The show has benefited from close ties to its American parent series. Tina Fey hosted the premiere episode, Jimmy Fallon dropped in as a guest during Episode 5, and both Michaels and Seth Meyers were heavily involved from the development stage. Michaels continues to take an active role in the production.
Sky’s faith in the project was clear early on, increasing the debut season order from six to eight episodes before it even premiered. The ambitious production comes with a hefty price tag — roughly £2 million ($2.6 million) per episode — which is unusually high for UK sketch comedy.
Viewership has been a mixed bag. The Tina Fey episode launched strongly with 226,000 viewers, but numbers dipped in the following weeks with hosts Jamie Dornan, Riz Ahmed, and Jack Whitehall. Whitehall’s episode hit a low of around 119,540 viewers. The show has shown signs of recovery since the hiatus, with Coughlan pulling in 130,000 and Aimee Lou Wood’s Episode 6 climbing to 143,700.
Although these figures are lower than the audiences regularly enjoyed by free-to-air channels like BBC and ITV on Saturday nights, they are considered respectable for a premium subscription service like Sky. The series has also enjoyed a strong digital afterlife, with several sketches going viral on YouTube. The Prince Andrew cold open from Episode 2 tops the charts with 2.4 million views, while a recent King Charles and Queen Camilla sketch has notched up 1.7 million.
Hannah Waddingham and Ncuti Gatwa will host the final two episodes of the current season.
The renewal underlines Sky’s commitment to investing in big-budget, high-profile British comedy with global appeal.
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