Saturday Night Live UK returned to our screens with a sharp opening sketch targeting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their move back to the UK.
Saturday (12 September) evening’s broadcast began with a topical cold open starring Jack Shep and Ayoade Bamgboye as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for the first time.
The couple were seen on a trip to Balmoral to visit the King and Queen Camilla (Larry Dean and Emma Sidi, reprising performances from the first series) following their return to the UK after six years in America.
The sketch kicked off with Harry and Meghan entering Balmoral Castle upon their recent resettlement on Harry’s home soil, with the former exclaiming: “Daddy, I’m home!”
Poking fun at their status as non-working royals, Charles told them that the castle is for “royals only”, while Camilla welcomed Meghan by calling her “as brown as ever”.
A dig was also made at Meghan’s lifestyle empire by way of her Netflix series With Love, Meghan, as the former Suits star insisted she is a “whizz in the kitchen” only to present Camilla with a block of ice as a gift.
“It’s true, she hires the best cooks,” Harry quipped.
After the couple shared their plans to move back to the UK, Charles said: “Don’t tell me you spent all your Netflix money already?”
“Daddy, it was $60 million,” Harry whiningly responded. “How long was it meant to last? I’m not asking for much.”
As Harry explained that he “doesn’t want to be a regular guy”, Andy Burnham, played by cast member George Fouracres, appeared on the scene.
“Did somebody say ‘regular guy’? I’m the new PM and I’m nothing like the last one,” he said, in reference to Fouracres having also played then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the first series of SNL UK.
Several jokes were made about Burnham, who became Prime Minister in July, with the sketch ending with an inspiring speech in which he said: “Like Gary Barlow before me, I’m just a regular man from the north with a dream, a relatable manner and a massive son.”
Harry and Meghan then decided to be “regular” like Mr Burnham, and the skit closed before leading into a musical number performed by this week’s host, Wicked star Jeff Goldblum. Irish singer CMAT served as the musical guest later in the episode.
The British sketch spin-off returned this weekend with all 11 original cast members still involved, while Such Brave Girls star Freddie Meredith has also joined the troupe of comedy actors.
In his three-star review of the series two opener, The Independent’s Nick Hilton wrote: “SNL sketches are always spotty, and this season opener is more miss than hit.”
The show continues next weekend with Jamie Demetriou to front episode two (19 September) and Amelia Dimoldenberg hosting the following week (26 September).
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