EXCLUSIVE: Saturday Night Live UK is cranking into life with the official appointment of its top creative team.
Daran Jonno Johnson, who helped pen Disney+ series Wedding Season, has joined the Sky series as head writer. Liz Clare, an experienced live TV director behind events including the BAFTA Film Awards, has been hired as series director.
They will be joined by James Longman, executive producer of The Late Late Show with James Corden, who will become SNL UK‘s lead producer. Deadline first reported in April that Longman would effectively run the sketch series, while he was confirmed in the role by Sky entertainment boss Phil Edgar-Jones during the Edinburgh TV Festival.
SNL creator Lorne Michaels’ name will be above the door of the UK version, but Longman will oversee the series day-to-day, tapping into his experience producing the Late Late Show in LA and making Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Alan Carr: Chatty Man in the UK.
Watch on Deadline
Johnson is one-third of sketch group Sheeps and also works as a composer. His other credits include Rose d’Or-winner Parlement for France TV, Siblings for the BBC, and animated series Elliott from Earth for Cartoon Network. Clare has directed major live UK broadcasts in recent years, including An Audience with Adele, Glastonbury, the BRIT Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, and Britain’s Got Talent.
Another name working behind the scenes is Shanna Baynard, who will serve as SNL UK‘s executive in charge of production. She has overseen production on major series and live specials, working with comedians like Kevin Hart and Michael McIntyre.
“After several years in LA, it’s amazing to come back home to such a vibrant and exciting live comedy scene,” said Longman. “Saturday Night Live has set the bar for live sketch comedy for half a century, and to help bring that legacy to London using our amazing on-screen and off-screen talent, along with a tremendous investment in UK production, is a massive honour.”
SNL UK will be produced by Universal Television Alternative Studio’s (UTAS) UK production team and Broadway Video for Sky and Now. UTAS UK Productions is overseen by managing director Helen Kruger Bratt. Andy Smith serves as lead producer for UTAS UK Productions alongside Sam Salter, production executive.
Edgar-Jones, Sky’s executive director of unscripted originals, said he wanted the remake of NBC’s iconic sketch show to bring “chaos” and “noise” to the screen. The series will be filmed in a BBC Studioworks facility, which Edgar-Jones hopes will “capture the intimacy” of the NBC version
“It’s exciting, a little bit scary as well,” Edgar-Jones told the Edinburgh TV Festival, revealing that Sky talent scouts had been in the Scottish city assessing the next generation of comedy stars at the Fringe.
Sky’s UK version will launch in 2026 and become the most high-profile international version of the venerable NBC late-night show after remakes in China, Germany, Italy, and South Korea.