Sky’s Saturday Night Live UK Onboards Additional Crew

James Longman, Liz Clare and Daran Jonno Johnson have joined Sky’s U.K. adaptation of Saturday Night Live.

Longman serves as lead producer, Clare joins as director and Johnson takes on the role of head writer. Lorne Michaels, the creator, leads as executive producer of Saturday Night Live UK, which is coming to Sky and NOW in 2026.

Longman, an eight-time nominated and two-time Emmy Award-winning executive producer, brings more than two decades of experience across comedy and entertainment. His credits include The Late Late Show with James Corden and the U.K.’s Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Alan Carr: Chatty Man and more.

Clare has directed An Audience with Adele, The BRIT Awards, The MTV Video Music Awards, The Voice UK and many more notable live broadcasts.

Grimme Preis winner Johnson is a writer, comedian and composer and one third of the sketch group SHEEPS. His writing credits include Wedding Season for Disney+, Rose d’Or winner Parlement for France.TV, Siblings for BBC and animated series Elliott from Earth for Cartoon Network.

SNL UK will be produced by Universal Television Alternative Studio’s U.K. production team and Broadway Video for Sky and NOW. UTAS UK Productions is overseen by managing director Helen Kruger Bratt. Shanna Baynard will serve as executive in charge of production. Andy Smith is the lead producer for UTAS UK Productions, alongside Sam Salter, who is the production executive.

Saturday Night Live UK is the first British adaptation of the long-running U.S. institution. The series will follow the same live, fast-paced format as the original.

“After several years in L.A., 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 U.K. production, is a massive honor.”