Which are your favourite venues to perform at, and why?

You prefer to illegally steal than 'sponsor'? 🤔

Richard Davis are you talking about SNL UK or Mock The Week, sorry?

Of course Sky weren't going to make SNL UK, nor TLC with Mock The Week, available for free when they first premiere. Both are commercial organisations, not charities or public-funded broadcasters.

By putting clips or the whole shows on YouTube, Sky/TLC are not making them available for free. YouTube will pay them, and that will relate to either YouTube Premium subscriptions or YouTube ads shown, when the videos are watched on that platform.

It wasn't amazing, but it was as good as it needed to be, and it will improve.

My favourite sketches were Shakespeare's Return (modernised Hamnet parody), The Last Supper (fun ensemble) and Undérage (turning an observation into a sketch), plus Tina's intro.

The UK Weekend Update didn't have the banter of the current US version with Michael and Colin (where they often screw each other over by writing some of each other's lines without revealing them until the live show), but that may develop with Ania and Paddy over time. There were some good jokes in there, nevertheless.

I was disappointed there were no songs/musical sketches, as I figured that's why Annabel Marlow had been added to the cast.

I thought Hammed's David Lammy was very forgettable, but the Boovies Goes To The Films sketch was good.

I'm intrigued to see if George will get 45 seconds at the end of every show. His Starmer impression was better than his Attenborough.

I thought the Paddington sketch needed more meat on the bone, ironically.

The swearing (compared to the US show) give it a bit more bite.

Which ones do you think were great?

For me, Shakespeare's Return, The Last Supper, Underáge, Boobies Goes To The Films and Tina's intro.

Not sure what you mean about political pressure with the BBC making Mock The Week? I'm not aware of any politicians being involved in their decision to stop making it in 2022.

Richard Davis no, it's available on YouTube too, which doesn't need a TV licence: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwd_lkDsJbgXjk0shMlluemkBJDdj_VUq

They are gradually adding SNL UK clips on this Sky TV YouTube playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLziTV12IsNli26jHyCim7S3lkbklocmnG

You can get a free trial to stream the full show on NOW TV, and there's a nice hack to get the subscription for half price if you subscribe for a month then cancel (and they then offer you a discounted rate).

I also hope the cast can do a better job of delivering scripted lines that they did in the promo this week (the one with Tina Fey as Mary Poppins)... 🤞

https://youtu.be/cRVz6mw3vig

What's going to make or break this version is how British it is and feels. The American version has never been that popular here (though I happily watch it every week when available on Sky/NOW), so it's going to need time to find its own feet.