\n\tWhen Sky CEO Dana Strong described \u201cSaturday Night Live U.K.\u201d as a \u201cmajor investment in the U.K. comedy eco-system\u201d at a showcase for the broadcaster last week, it turns out she wasn\u2019t joking. Variety understands that each episode of the British adaptation is costing around \u00a32 million ($2.6 million). <\/p>\n
\n\tVariety has also learned that, unusually for a weekly entertainment production, \u201cSNL U.K.\u201d has hired the largest studio in central London\u2019s Television Centre on a standing (exclusive) basis for the entirety of its eight-week run, meaning the cast and crew aren\u2019t sharing the space with any other production. Nor will they need to disassemble sets and clear out of the offices, galleries, edit suites and storage spaces in between episodes. It\u2019s a luxury few productions can afford these days as budgets are tightened.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe studio, the 10,800-square foot TC1, is usually home to \u201cThe Graham Norton Show\u201d\u2014as Norton himself pointed out<\/a> during \u201cSNL U.K.\u2019s\u201d inaugural episode, when he popped up during Fey\u2019s opening monologue. His show is not set to return until the autumn.<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s yet another sign of Sky\u2019s faith in \u201cSNL U.K.,\u201d which was originally earmarked for only 6 episodes before a last-minute vote of confidence that saw it bumped up to 8 before the first episode had even been broadcast. At the Sky showcase five days before the inaugural episode aired, Strong described the show as \u201ca point of pride for me\u201d and \u201cperhaps our most ambitious undertaking yet.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWhile the show\u2019s weekly budget still falls far short of its Stateside counterpart\u2019s rumoured $4 million (\u00a33 million) per episode, it\u2019s a figure that is almost unheard of for a topical sketch show in the U.K., even one running to 75-minutes.<\/p>\n \n\tInsiders tell Variety that a typical British sketch show usually costs around \u00a3300-500,000 per episode, less than a quarter of \u201cSNL U.K.\u2019s\u201d budget.<\/p>\n \n\tThey pointed out it\u2019s one of the reasons the sketch show format has become something of a dying art in the U.K. \u201cThey\u2019re expensive, which is why no one does them anymore,\u201d says one entertainment veteran. \u201cTopical shows also have no repeatability, unlike dramas.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAs well as the exclusive studio hire for two months, a chunk of \u201cSNL U.K.\u2019s\u201d budget will no doubt have gone on the 11-strong cast<\/a> and team of 20 writers<\/a>, not to mention the producing team, which includes \u201cThe Late Late Show With James Corden\u201d vet James Longman as producer and \u201cSNL\u201d creator Lorne Michaels as exec producer, plus its numerous sets and costumes, many of which need to be produced with a tight turnaround as the writing team responds to current events.<\/p>\n \n\tThe ratings for the inaugural episode, hosted by Tina Fey, drew a respectable 226,000 viewers<\/a> and a mixed bag of reviews. Scott Bryan, reviewing the first episode for Variety<\/a>, said it risks being \u201ctoo American\u201d for a British audience but even where a sketch doesn\u2019t always work \u201cthere\u2019s enough one-liners to keep you going.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOnline, and particularly YouTube, where \u201cSNL\u201d skits tend to have their most successful half-life, Fey\u2019s opening monologue attracted over 1.6 million views in less than 48 hours, followed by the Keir Starmer cold open<\/a> with 1 million views.<\/p>\n