skit

Saturday Night Live UK’s cold open featured Peter Serafinowicz in a guest cameo as Nigel Farage, spoofing the Reform UK leader as Prime Minister in 2046 following the party’s sweeping local election wins.

Shaun Of The Dead actor Peter Serafinowicz made a surprise appearance playing Reform UK leader Nigel Farage as prime minister in an SNL UK sketch set in the year 2046.

The comedy programme kicked off on Saturday evening with a political skit depicting Mr Farage occupying Number 10, pulling pints at his desk while US President Donald Trump has seized control as the nation’s king.

The sketch took aim at the party’s landslide victories during this week’s local council and Scottish and Welsh elections. It began with ‘Mr Farage’ recording a personalised 120th birthday message for much-loved naturalist Sir David Attenborough, before Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch (Ayoade Bamgboye) appeared as his deputy.

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“Big news day, Prime Minister. Thanks to our deportations, the population of London is finally down to single fingers,” she said, drawing uproarious laughter from Mr Farage.

Taking a swipe at the continuing tensions between the US and Iran, she went on: “One last thing, King Trump assures us he has almost negotiated a ceasefire over the Strait of Hormuz.”

Mr Farage responds: “Phew, for a minute there, it felt like we were on the brink of World War Four.”

The pair jest that since their parties joined forces, they have been “unstoppable”, drawing a comparison to the spreading hantavirus, referencing the outbreak that has dominated news coverage in recent days. After checking the weather forecast – which shows London engulfed in flames, satirising climate change – the pair head out for a stroll before Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner emerge from behind a bookshelf, which turns out to be a time machine.

The former deputy leader, portrayed by Celeste Dring, warns Sir Keir (George Fouracres) that unless he allows her to run the government, “this future will come to pass”, to which he replies he will “seize every moment” as Prime Minister.

When Mr Farage returns to the office accompanied by Mrs Badenoch, he queries who Sir Keir is, declaring himself the “big chungus” of the “great United Kingdom and the middle part of Wales”.

They warn they’ll have the Labour party leaders removed from the building by security guards, but Mrs Badenoch jokes: “We deported security.”

The sketch concluded with Al Nash emerging through the prime ministerial time machine portal dressed as Sir Winston Churchill to launch the show, leading into Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham’s opening monologue.

The award-winning actress made light of the “glamorous characters” she has portrayed throughout her career, before displaying pictures of less flattering parts such as her “sexy little turn as the shame nun” in hit TV series Game Of Thrones.

Throughout the episode, Waddingham took part in numerous sketches alongside the show’s inaugural cast, and was accompanied by Stargazing singer Myles Smith as the musical guest. The programme also marked Sir David’s landmark 100th birthday in its weekend news segment, with hosts Ania Magliano and Paddy Young sitting down to interview a rhino (Hammed Animashaun) for their take on the much-loved broadcaster.

The skit descended into mayhem when Sir David (Fouracres) burst onto the scene to grapple with the wild beast after it dared to criticise him.

The Sky Original production is filmed live in London, featuring a rotating guest host each week alongside the show’s regular cast, which comprises actor Hammed Animashaun and comedian Ania Magliano.

SNL UK returns to Sky and Now TV on May 16 for its series finale, with Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa taking the hosting duties, accompanied by musical guest Holly Humberstone.

Saturday Night Live UK is available to watch on Sky and Now TV on Saturdays at 10pm.

United States President Donald Trump has shared a Truth Social video of a TV comedy skit showing a panicked United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer trying to avoid his call, on the same evening the two leaders spoke about the US-Israel war on Iran.

The skit, aired on the premiere of the new British version of Saturday Night Live (SNL), adapted from the long-running US show, shows Starmer, played by George Fouracres, panicking inside 10 Downing Street at the prospect of a call with Trump.

Starmer turns to a fake David Lammy, his deputy prime minister, and says, “What if Donald shouts at me?”

When Trump picks up the phone, Starmer immediately hangs up, asking why it is so difficult to talk to “that scary, scary, wonderful president”.

“Sir, just be honest and tell him we can’t send any more ships to the Strait of Hormuz,” Lammy says, the vital shipping lane effectively blocked by Iran since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28.

“I just want to keep him happy, Lammy. You don’t understand him like I do – I can change him,” Starmer says.

Trump did not post any comment alongside the video.

Trump has lashed out at his NATO allies, including Starmer, for not joining the US efforts to break the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of global oil passes. A week ago, he asked the UK to be more supportive of the US war efforts because Washington spends “a lot of money” on NATO.

The US president last week called the NATO countries “cowards” for their refusal to join the war. This, after European leaders rejected Trump’s demands ⁠to help ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

“Now that fight is militarily WON, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to ⁠pay, but don’t want to help open ⁠the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices. So easy for them to do, with so ⁠little risk,” he wrote on the Truth Social platform.

The closure of the strait has sent oil prices soaring, creating the biggest energy crisis since the 1970s. On Sunday, Trump threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it did not reopen the strait within 48 hours.

Trump-Starmer call

Separately, on Sunday evening, Starmer spoke with Trump to discuss escalating tensions in the Middle East, his office said in a statement. It was not clear if the call took place before or after Trump posted the SNL skit on Truth Social.

In a readout of the call, the Prime Minister’s Office said the two leaders focused on “the need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to resume global shipping” amid growing concerns over energy security and regional stability.

“They agreed that reopening the Strait of Hormuz was essential to ensure stability in the global energy market,” the statement said.

The leaders also agreed to remain in close contact as the situation develops and “to speak again soon”, it added.

On Monday, Starmer ⁠said there had been no assessment ⁠that mainland Britain was being targeted by Iran.

Starmer asserted that any ⁠attempt to reopen the Strait of Hormuz needed careful consideration and a ‌viable plan, and that his number one priority was to ‌protect ‌British interests and de-escalate.

‘Not Winston Churchill’

The US leader has repeatedly railed against Starmer since the start of the war, accusing him of not doing enough to support the US.

“This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,” Trump said earlier this month, after Starmer initially declined to let US warplanes use UK bases to strike Iran.

“I’m disappointed with Keir,” Trump has also said, slamming Starmer’s “big mistake”. “I like him, I think he’s a nice man, but I’m disappointed.”

On Friday, the UK government gave authorisation for the US to use its military bases to carry out strikes on Iranian missile sites that were attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Starmer initially rejected a US request to use British bases for the strikes on Iran, saying he needed to be satisfied that any military action was legal.

But the prime minister modified his stance after Iran conducted strikes on British allies across the Middle East, saying the US could use RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia, a joint US-UK base in the Indian Ocean.