No idea who the Saturday Night Live UK cast are? Good

I didn’t even know it was possible to commission a comedy show without Romesh Ranganathan, Alan Carr or Katherine Ryan at the helm – even if I love them. 

Thank God someone is finally brave enough to trust unknown names who may lack a following, but possess genuinely hysterical funny bones.

Although I’d be amazed if none of those three eventually pop up as guest hosts – and I’d welcome each of them – the point still stands. It is time for fresh faces to take centre stage and restore UK comedy to its former glory. 

Frustratingly, the response so far has been typically British, and typically excruciating.

We have dismissed them as unknowns, despite our constant complaints that the same rotation of comedians wheeled out for every panel show, Strictly Come Dancing line up or podcast.

And yet, when we’re finally given 11 brand-new comedians with brand-new perspectives, the response is: ‘Are we supposed to know who these people are?’

Well, no. You are precisely not supposed to know who they are. You are supposed to welcome the discovery of great comedy flourishing in what has otherwise been a very exclusive club – one that few comedians are ever allowed to break through.

The prospect of a Saturday Night Live UK did very little to excite me when it was first announced last year. It had a huge legacy to live up to and given how the American show is currently faring, a British version seemed like a desperate attempt to stay relevant. 

Across the pond, the show’s sketches have become woefully unfunny – or worse, wildly offensive. 

Even with some of the biggest names in showbiz still frothing at the mouth for a guest spot, it feels dated and irrelevant; its cast missing the spark of former alumni like Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, Eddie Murphy, Kristin Wiig and others (themselves unknown at the time, let’s not forget) who once made the show the pinnacle of American prime time comedy.

It seemed unlikely to me that a British take would ever be able to relight the spark. 

However, after speaking to several sources connected to the UK version, I’ve gradually become convinced they’re onto a winner. Mainly because British humour arguably lends itself far better to sketch comedy.

Smack the Pony, French and Saunders and The Fast Show remain jewels in the comedy crown – but also because the talent search for the British SNL has been extensive, meticulous, and a welcome attempt to push forward comedy’s next wave.

This feels like a genuinely game-changing moment in a television landscape that has dried up in terms of new talent. 

Broadcasters have become petrified of taking risks, with the same faces gatekeeping every major opportunity.

Meanwhile, in the US, Saturday Night Live has nurtured new talent for decades, injecting billions into Hollywood – with almost every major American comedy legend having cut their teeth on its stage.

If the UK version has even a fraction of the same impact on British comedy, we could finally see something we can not only be proud of, but reach greater heights than ever before.

Few things make me patriotic, but British comedy is one of them. We are rich in people who are genuinely funny, and that talent deserves to be lauded on national television. 

Saturday Night Live UK have proved themselves to be one of the only shows bold enough to back comedians not because they can sell out the Apollo, but because they’re simply brilliant enough to make the format work.

Admittedly, I’m one of those people who didn’t recognise a single name in the cast announcement, and I’m glad.

There’s plenty to be excited about. Between them, the line-up has been involved in some of the best comedy of recent years – This Country, Black Ops and Stath Lets Flats, to name just a few.

There is currently an open goal for great sketch comedy. The 1990s were thick with it, yet the genre has been stagnant since.

Comedy has thrived on TikTok and Instagram, with many of this new cast boasting a number of viral hits, but this has not translated to television, because channels have been too slow – or too scared.

Saturday Night Live UK is taking the risk broadcasters have been too cowardly to take, and British comedy has suffered in recent years as a result.

The only notable sketch show has been Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping, which largely relied on star power while overlooking the most important ingredient: innovation.

In an era where celebrity has never been taken so seriously – stars so tightly protected, with every scrap of fun and spontaneity squeezed from their public image – it will, at the very least, be refreshing to see famous faces letting loose again, taking the mick out of themselves (and Brooklyn Beckham).

Whatever star power is missing from the cast will be more than made up for in the guest hosts and musical guests. Danny Dyer, Lily Allen, Dawn French, or anyone from Celebrity Traitors – the potential for genuinely funny, unexpected television is huge.

If anything, be grateful this is a cast you haven’t heard of. There are few joys greater than discovering a new comedian – and now we have 11 ready to bring back classic British comedy that has been sorely missing for years. 

We won’t all love all of them, and we’ll all have favourites, but there is almost certainly someone in that line-up for everyone.

Not knowing who they are isn’t the problem – it’s exactly the point.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

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