Culture 4 min read By Trevor Kendall
SNL U.K. Turns Oasis Into Russian Hackers in Cold Open Skewering PM Andy Burnham
The third episode of SNL U.K. Season 2 opened with a sketch in which a fictional Prime Minister Andy Burnham is tricked by Russian agents posing as Liam and Noel Gallagher, part of a broader satire of disinformation and the band's chaotic reunion moment.
Saturday Night Live U.K. returned for its third episode of Season 2 with a cold open that transformed Oasis into a Russian psychological operation targeting British Prime Minister Andy Burnham. In the sketch, the Manchester band's reunion is revealed to be a Kremlin plot designed to harvest the Prime Minister's personal data, a premise that allowed the show to satirize both political disinformation and the Gallagher brothers' long-running cultural mythology.
George Fouracres played Burnham, depicted inside his new Number 10 North office in Manchester after returning from the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where the fictional leader had just delivered remarks on Russian disinformation and cyber attacks. Celeste Dring appeared as Angela Rayner, who informed Burnham that some «local lads» had arrived to see him. In walked Liam and Noel Gallagher, played by new cast members Freddie Meredith and Jack Shep, who presented the Prime Minister with tickets to one of the band's forthcoming Etihad Stadium shows.
Burnham, a noted guitar player in the sketch's universe, immediately declared himself a devoted Oasis fan. When the fake Gallaghers explained they needed a guitarist for their upcoming performance, he volunteered on the spot, abandoning his meeting with Rayner. The brothers told him he first had to register his details online. As Burnham entered increasingly sensitive information — his password, National Insurance number, and the name of his first pet — the lights shifted and the supposed Gallaghers dropped their Mancunian accents to reveal themselves as Russian agents.
«Oasis has always been Russian pop. All songs were made in a lab by Kremlin scientists,» the fake Liam claimed, adding that «Wonderwall» was actually «Wonderful Wall,» a tribute to the Berlin Wall. The sketch concluded with Burnham denouncing the hackers and ordering the «Russian Mancs» to leave the country and «go back to being Oasis.»
The parody arrives at a busy moment for the real Oasis. Tickets for the band's «Live '27» tour are currently rolling out in staggered sale windows, with fans reporting a smoother experience than during the notorious «Live '25» sale. The tour includes an 11-night run at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium, five dates at Glasgow's Celtic Park, shows across mainland Europe and the United States, two nights at Slane Castle, and four concerts at Knebworth. Extra dates in Knebworth, Munich, and Rome were added last week due to what promoters described as phenomenal demand.
Noel Gallagher has said the new tour will be «so much better» than the band's 2025 reunion run, while Liam has warned that although it is not officially a farewell tour, «it still could be our last.» The brothers' reunion was recently chronicled in the documentary «Oasis: Don't Look Back In Anger.»
The sketch also slipped in a reference to Manchester City, the Gallagher brothers' beloved club, joking that the Etihad might be «repossessed» before Oasis get there — an apparent nod to the Premier League charges against the club. The episode, hosted by Amelia Dimoldenberg, featured Rachel Chinouriri as musical guest. It was the third installment of SNL U.K.'s second series.
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