Dinner for One is a short British cabaret sketch from the 1920s that has become a German New Year’s tradition. It seems that watching television on New Year’s Eve in Germany is right up there with the past tradition of watching the Queen’s Christmas Day message in the UK.
Relatively unknown to a bulk of the English speaking world to this day, "Dinner for One" remains the highest-rated TV show in German history and went on to become the most frequently repeated TV program ever according to the Guinness Book of World Records having aired numerous times annually in Germany since 1972 on Germany’s regional public television channels. It is also traditional festive viewing in Denmark, Sweden and a host of European countries.
Miss Sophie, played by May Warden, is celebrating her 90th birthday by throwing a dinner for her friends Sir Toby, Admiral von Schneider, Mr Pommeroy and Mr Winterbottom, along with the help of her butler James (Freddie Frinton).
Unfortunately, these friends are unable to attend the dinner as they’re long dead, which doesn’t put James off pretending he is them to help keep Miss Sophie and her ailing eyesight in good spirits.
James serves four courses accompanied by four drinks. The comedy ensues as James is forced to toast for the absent guests that he is impersonating, becoming increasingly inebriated. After 16 glasses of wine, James does find it increasingly difficult to go about his routine.
So, wherever you are, raise a glass of your favourite beverage this New Year's Eve, toast the film’s most famous lines ... "Same procedure as last year?" and "The same procedure as every year" and celebrate this long-standing German television NYE tradition.
