Reaction To Dinner for One 

Most of us have been watching this since early childhood, and it was the one adult comedy show my kid-self understood, I was so proud.

The secret why this is so popular is that you don't have to understand any English to understand what's going on. So even little kids can watch it and have fun. And when you grow older, you start to understand and discover more and more nuances. So you discovery every year something new. Obviously the 'Same procedure as every year? The same procedure as every year, James!' is predestined for new years eve.

I'm German, in my mid-50s, and I've been watching this sketch every New Year's Eve since I was about 10 years old. And no matter how many times I've seen it, I still find it very funny and I still giggle at the same scenes as I did 40 years ago :) This is definitely one of those sketches that never gets boring. xD

It was so comforting to watch this on New Years Eve in that crazy year 2020. The feeling of "at least this is as it always was and always shall be" combinend with "well, they are making the best of things when they can't have their friends present". It was perfect.

almost EVERY German knows it and most of them watch it every year still today. I dont know why. 😅

What I like in the German version is the man who tells a preface in German before the actual show starts. He tells us why all this happens, why James has to imitate four persons who don't exist (any more): It's Miss Sophie's 90th birthday, she survived all her best friends, but still insists in her traditional dinner with all guests and the usual meals & drinks.

I'm German, but although I moved to Japan about almost 20 years ago, it's still a MUST for me at new years eve... and my Japanese family and friends also LOVE it by now. The humor is simply brilliant !!!

This recording has some slight variations from the one that is shown on German TV each year. In the German recording, the stairs at the back were much taller, actually leading up a full story, allowing Mr. Frinton at 10:07 to run quite a ways up, and build a good bit of momentum coming back down. At 10:44 when James is staring at the imaginary Sir Toby (who always asks for a little bit more), he finally sloshes the bottle at Sir Toby's glass. In the German version, Mr Frinton manages to topple over the glass with this - a trick he practiced a lot, to be able to do it on command, so it's a little sad it's missing from this version. There's also a minor change to the dialogue around "Admiral von Schneider": in the German recording, each time before he replicates the late Admiral's heel-clicking he pleads, "Must I, Miss Sophie?" and she replies "Just to please me, James," each time. He resignedly mutters "Just to please you," to himself, before once again hurting his feet for her.

Those phrases "Same procedure as last year?" "Same procedure as every year?" have become so iconic that you can hear them being quoted in every day life in Germany when it's fitting in. I know that many people in Austria and Switzerland like watching it on New Year's eve too.

Hi, I'm an English woman who married a German and have lived in Germany for 40 years. Way back in the 80s my parents came over for Christmas/New Year. My Dad had always been a fan of Freddie Frinton and had seen him live several times, but he had never heard of Dinner For One. We watched it and my Dad was rolling on the floor, we had to buy him a copy on Video to take home!! Every year my family watch this ( although there is a slightly different version that we prefer ) and it always brings back happy memories of my Dad.

I am a German living in Finland and I was delighted to find out that it also a new year's eve tradition up here 😊

There are families in Germany who have been watching this for generations. People pride themselves for knowing every second of it by heart. The regional TV stations organize showing this at different times, so it's being broadcasted almost all afternoon and all evening somewhere on German television. It's definitely a German tradition.

I'm 44 years old and I can't think of a New Year's Eve without Dinner for One. And I still enjoy it. :)

I love this sketch - old Miss Sophie whose friends have all died and the butler who tries to keep the birthday tradition going.

I grew up in Slovenia in former Yugoslavia, still live here, and we watched this every year on our national TV. And it still makes me laugh after all these years. 😀

In Austria and Germany there's this special moment every year when you're zapping through your channels and almost every single one of them shows Dinner for One 😂 I can still remember the first time I watched it, but it is even better to show it to the younglings and watch their recation to it ❤

The story how it came to Germany goes like this: The entertainer Peter Frankenfeld accompanied by director Hans Dunkelhase saw it on stage in Blackpool in 1962 and liked it that much, they wanted to bring it to german television. It aired once in the TV show of Frankenfeld in 1963 and was taped shortly after for german television by NDR. It aired once and then as a filler program in ARD and NDR but only gained the tradition in 1972 when head of entertainment of the NDR, Henri Regnier, ensured the sketch its now well known place in german television. It is all documented in more detail on wikipedia as well.

I'm from Scotland. I first saw this in 1980, the first year I spent Christmas and New Year in Germany. I was staying at a friend's house and they turned on the TV to watch this. They were completely amazed that I had never heard of it before. Since then, I too watch it whenever I am in Germany for New Year's. "Same procedure as last year? - Same procedure as every year." has long become a kind of call-response thing in Germany. Everybody knows what it means.

I'm Dutch, 44 years and I can remember watching this every year. Laughing our heads off together with our loved ones was the best time ever. 😅😂

I've actually sort of "recreated" the menu for a New Year's Eve party back in the late 1980s. Made Mulligatawny soup from scratch, the fish course was a shrimp cocktail, roasted a turkey instead of chicken (hey, I had to feed ~15 people!), and made a fruit compote for dessert. But I DID serve all the respective drinks with each course -- even raided my MIL's cupboard for the type of beaker used on the show. Great fun! "And "same procedure as last/every year" has truly become a byword here in Germany.

I've been watching it every year for as long as I can remember, and I still laugh about it today.

There is also a version, with a german introduction at the beginning, where the host or announcer describes the backstory, and explains and translates the "same procedure as last year?" part. It's her 90th birthday, and she has outlived all her friends (the guests, played by James).

I was an exchange student from the US to Germany back in the 90s and of course had to watch this along with everyone else. I still enjoy watching it - it is "tradition" in the sense that everyone knows exactly what's going to happen and still wants to see it because noone wants to to start the new year on a serious note.

As a kid I just laughed at the bits that I understood. As an adult you learn to read more into it, the setting, the jokes, and I got to appreciate what a task this was to film it in one go. That is incredible talent by those two. And yes, I still find this thing hilarious to this day.

Oh Gosh! That IS a German classic! As a French, I simply love it and been so glad my neighbours put it on every year, thus allowing me to watch it.

There are at least two different versions of the sketch, the other one has a tablecloth. But it's a tradition indeed. As far back as I can remember (and I'm over 50 now) we've watched this every single New Years Eve. And it's always shown in English, probably the only show in German TV history to not be dubbed 😉

Dinner for one is an absolute institution! Every regional public service broadcaster shows it, in some instances multiple times on New Year’s Eve. Some of them even got remakes in regional dialects. It’s beloved across all age groups. I watched it as a child with my grandparents and parents and to this day I enjoy it. Even at parties in my late teens/early twenties, no matter how much alcohol had been flowing, if there was an TV someone would turn it on and sooner or later a cluster of people would surround the TV. Nowadays it’s more the tradition and nostalgia that draws me in every year, but the sketch shines through its simplicity and clarity even across language boundaries.

No New Year's Eve in Germany without Freddie’s Dinner for one. And that’s for 60 Years. A Legend.

There are two different versions of that sketch. The more popular version is about 18 minutes long with a german introduction and more talking between Frinton and Warden. Try this, too! ☺️

The one shown on german TV every year has a very contacious laughter in it, a little explaination in the beginning and has an overall slower and better matching pace. These things, the joke about gettin' drunk and the expression "same procedure as every year" makes it perfect for new years eve - especially if you are in a group of slightly tipsy people.

It is also very popular in Denmark. My danish grandpa, who died in 1988, loved it so much he played Freddy Frinton at every family party. I'm 55 today and I can't remember there ever being a New Year's Eve without Dinner for One. Nowadays it is my german father who insists on this tradition - there is simply no new year's eve without it.

New Years Eve we were in Spain with a german youth group, and it was very international, lots of youth groups from different countries. Every group got tasked with presenting something traditional for new years eve from their country, a song, or a game, an activity. We did a theatrical reenactment of Dinner for one and everyone had a blast. (although the "Tiger pelt" got some small bruises xD)

Dinner for one was basically part of every New Year’s Eve I had. As well as the German show: „Ein Herz und eine Seele“ (A Heart and a Soul) with the episode „Silvesterpunsch“. Definitely an episode you should watch next

We used to reenact it as kids and had to find a new tigerhead after my youngest cousin refused to play the tigerhead, I genuinely don’t know who had the idea to have my cousin play it but there was no lasting head damage because we were careful. The genius thing is that the actor never even drank a drop of alcohol and played it that well.

I'm in my 70's and I remember this being on the TV here in SA every new years eve during my childhood way back then. It also caused my parents MUCH EMBARRASSMENT the first time that I had "questions" about the last scene which of course resulted in a mutually embarrassing "talk" about the birds and the bees. Good times...

It's pretty much unavoidable throughout New Year's in Germany as it's played on almost all channels at different times. I think it's just one of those things that get funnier with repetition. Especially since the "same procedure" gag fits that so well. Also before the actual skit there's usually a man explaining the setting in German, initially for those who don't understand English but he's basically just part of the tradition at this point since everyone knows what it's about anyway. And I don't know about it being a tradition everywhere in Europe, I always thought it's pretty much limited to German speaking countries but I might be wrong.

Seit 40 Jahren ist es Pflicht und Kult an Silvester bei uns Zuhause! Ich freue mich auf die nächsten 40 Jahre! 😂❤

I am from Germany. My parents used to watch this every new years eve... when I became a young adult, I didn't watch it ... until my early 30ies ... then I finally understood the joke at the end: "I do my very best!"😉 Then I suddenly realized why my parents were always laughing at the end .... 🤣

I remember watching this soooooooo many times while growing up. There has never been a New Years Eve without it. Sometimes we would even watch it multiple times on that day. Greetings from Germany!

I am living abroad since 2004, but every year at New Year's, I turn on my VPN and watch Dinner for One.

I am 62 years old and I have been watching this every New years eve since I was a child. I still love it.Greetings from Germany. The Party always starts after Dinner for one!

These two sentences: "Same procedure as last year?" "Same procedure as every year" have already become familiar quotations for us. I haven't seen it in a while, but I had to laugh again. If you consider that you actually know this sketch inside and out, that you still have to laugh heartily over and over again! Then it's good humor!

hi Mert - you are a Scotsman living in Malaysia, I understand... and I am a German, living in Scotland! But I spent my first 30 years in my country of birth, and I'm out of count of how often I have seen 'Dinner for One'... Its even crazier than just that its on TV every New Years Eve... it was also shown on many different German channels on that afternoon, at different times, so that you won't miss it. And the most addicted ones could so watch it several times in a row (that was before the iNet). Why is it so popular? I think its because we like the British sense of humour, and this one we can also 'get' without any knowledge of English (like Mr Bean)... may not explain why it took off so much, but it is a perfect piece of comedy at the end of the year, and Freddy's performance is so funny and well done, that you well can watch it once a year! 😎

I am 50 now and I've watched it about 120 times 😁 With family, friends and alone. I know every word, movement and facial expression by heart.

Here in Denmark they watch it too. I guess the "every year", paired with the visual nature and this subtle but deep human touch make it so popular. You can both laugh about and feel with the characters. Also this stereotypical, upper class but reality detached Britishness is just so hilarious by itself 😅

Back in my childhood , forty-five years ago, there were only three programs on German television. It was a tradition for our family on New Years Eve to first watch dinner for one, then we ate a warm meal together with the family and friends and then the New Year`s Eve party started.🙂💓🍺🍷🍾🥂

You must know 3 things: The North-german humor/mentality is very similar to the british". AND the guests passed away long years ago,SO THE BUTLER MUST PLACE E V E R Y ROLL - AND TAKE PLACE TO EVERY DEAD PERSON!!! As a Kid we understood not soo much... We laughed about the drunken butler and the lion,he's always kicking at chance!! And the LAST,when she says he did to do all jobs in Lady's Bedroom,this is the grandious ending!! And at last: We had in the 60ies.70ies and early 80ies just 3-4 TV Stations. And EVERY SYLVESTER THIS WAS RUNNING,EVERY YEAR!!! AND WE LOVE IT SO MUCH!! NOW we have 100 TV stations/programs,but it is still a cult! Tradition to watch it! I hope you and the people in the U.K. will like it too!!

Für mich auch eine Tradition für jedes Silvester von Jugend an! Vor allem ist es für mich nach wie vor witzig! Es hat über die Jahre nichts von seinem Reiz und Charme verloren. Immer wieder sehenswert❤❤❤

The sketch goes by the subtitle „The ninetieth birthday“… The idea is that Admiral von Schneider, Mr.s Pommeroy, Winterbottom and Sir Toby have all long passed but that Miss Sophie has them as metaphorical guests for her ninetieth birthday - as every year. Nostalgia at work. It is, therefore a look backwards, to the past with good old friends (let ould acquaintance be forgot) and a look into the new year with some (more or less) civilized drinking. As such, it is a perfect New Year‘s tradition and we love the antics of James and the whimsical „same procedure as every year, James“ - especially at the very end which is a naughty hint at another tradition going on in the upstairs… Mr. Bean is also quite popular, especially his turkey stuffing extravaganza, around the winter holidays…

I am german and have known this sketch since my childhood. To this day it is a must-do on new year's eve. Frinton was a great comedian. But until today I didn't know that "Dinner for one" is not known in Great Britain. In Germany it is a cultural asset 😁

I've been laughing about this show as a kid already and I was proud about understanding more and more of the dialogue every year. I wave my daughter good-bye with "cheerio, Miss Sophie!"

Hello from Swizerland 🇨🇭 i am 44 years old and i grew up watching Dinner for one , every new years eve. And i still love to watch it now wirh my child on new Years eve.

I watched this since i was a little kid... and after about 15 years i finally understood the last joke....

Of course. Since early childhood we have all watched it. Every single year. Still do. Without it, it's not new years eve

I must have seen "Dinner for One" at least a hundred times. We read the TV guide and tried to watch it three, four, five times during New Years Eve. With my grandparents, with parents, with my sisters or with friends. It was a must. And literally knowing the piece by heart, I'm still looking forward to all those little stunts...

There are people that actually meet on NYE in the afternoon, cook all the dishes, having bought all the liquor and have that meal before watching the show :)

I'm Swiss, I've watched this basically every NYE with my family. Always found it quite hilarious even back when I didn't speak a word of English.

Hello. I am French, I have family, cousins, uncles are German. I discovered these plays on television and I find them just as good every year. Together they continue to make me laugh.

It's a German Tradition to watch it every year, always makes me laugh 😂

No New Years Eve without "Dinner for one"!!! It's not only unwritten law, it also just doesn't feel right for me, if I miss it one year 😅 I'm so looking forward to passing this tradition on to my son 😊

I think there are a lot of people, including me, who love to speak Freddie's lines in sync with him!

I'm german and also been watching this lovely comedy since I was a child. What a great actor Freddie Frinton was! Never get tired of it. Since ten years I'm now married to a british man, and guess what - he didn't know it. Well, he know's it now, since we are living in germany (Bavaria, to be exact) - Platzerl (Christmas cookies) and Dinner for One became his tradition now aswell.

We used to watch this in my youth, and because there was no such thing like the internet then we actually had to figure out the exact time when and on what channel it was broadcasted on New Years Eve. The phrase "Same procedure as every year, James" is very commonly known and used.

This is high quality theatre acting. This is one reason why you can watch it over and over. And the festivity, as we are drinking sekt every year.

The thing about James tripping over that rug's head: from what I've read that wasn't in the sketch originally, but Freddie accidentally tripped once and the crowd reaction was so good, that he implemented that part into the sketch.

I introduced this to friends from the USA and UK some 40 years ago and founded a new tradition there 😂😂😂

I'm German and first thing I did when I was studying abroad, was introducing this !!! They kept the tradition and it's part of their new years Eves as well now (American, Korean, Italian)

There are now so many versions of this sketch. The most unusual thing is that the original version was later collured. There is also a color version. Otherwise, new versions in various German dialects over the years - Low German, Hessian, Kölsch (Cologne) and Franconian (Nuremberg). Then many German comedians re-recorded this scene and incorporated other small gags. Swiss television also had a modification of the sketch (this is the video here) and Denmark also has its own version. In the version, all of Miss Sophie's friends are still alive! The special thing about the German NDR version is the laughter of the woman in the audience!

In Denmark we also have a tradition with watching it every New Year, here it is called the "90th Years Birthday", there a even a drinking game(not that commonly used but its there) made for it, you each choose a character and everytime that character is mentioned you drink. Its shown on one of our National TV stations (DR).

I watch it since I was a child. I saw it that ofen, that I can speak the whole text. And I laugh every year. In germany it starts with a german introduction.

German here, I can't imagine a new year's eve NOT watching it. I'm 47 now and as long as I remember, we been always watching it at home

I'm from lower saxony which was filled with British soldiers all throughout the cold war and was ruled by the British king at one point so we have a special relationship with the British. My family and I watch this every new years eve and it never fails to entertain

Such a classic. I am from Austria and this is a New Years Eve must see for me....the same procedure every New Year.😂 love it.

I watched it as a kid with my Oma and parents, and now I watch it with my teenagers. It's tradition to watch it each year. We all love it. It gets better with each year. All year long, we joke that it's the Same procedure as every year? And everybody in German get's it.

In the early 1960's a German TV producer and a TV director saw this sketch in Blackpool. They were so enamored by it that they invited Frinton & Warden to Hamburg to do a TV recording of the sketch. Believe it was never recorded for British TV.

No New Years Eve without Dinner for One. Half a century, and we are still laughing. There are actually two versions of it, we use to watch the other one on New Years Eve, but the differences are vanishingly small. Now we are stepping away a little from politics, you really need to check out Loriot. In my humble opinion, he is THE best "comedian" (for lack of a better word), Germany ever had. The master of situation comedy (is that even a thing in English?), very subtle, very detail-loving, great actor, great writer, great director, great illustrator. Greatly missed as well...

So you see that we Germans love our traditions as well. This small episode represents all typical British characteristics. Same procedure as every year, it's tradition above all! Even keeping it in the oddest way, cheerio to the ghosts of long gone days! And a butler fit for all purpose 😜

Ich schaue seit mindestens 30 Jahren Dinner for one an Silvester. Ich hab es noch nie verpasst. Eine absolute Tradition in Deutschland und jedes Mal lustig. Es gehört zu Silvester wie der Jahreswechsel. Ich liebe es!

Remember that after WW2 Germany was a military-occupied zone, shared between the USA, USSR, UK and France. So these nations had a huge influence on German culture. As a teenager, I was mostly listening to BFBS (British Forces Broadcasting Service). That was an English speaking radio channel in Germany and it was very popular in the West and Northern Germany. Then there was all the British music, especially the Beatles, then there were a lot of very popular British TV shows. We even produced our own TV shows that tried to mimic a British look. Under the Brand name of British writer Edgar Wallace there were over 10 movies. Some of these movies were shot at my boarding school because it was an old carstle build in the old British Tudor style (the only one in Germany - Schloss Herdringen in reality Longford Manor in the movie). Don't underestimate the influence of British culture here in Germany after WW2

This comedy „Dinner for one“ has the subtitle „Miss Sophie’s 90th Birthday“. I‘ve been to a crime dinner a while ago for „Miss Sophie’s 30th Birthday“ where Admiral von Schneider had been killed. Sir Toby was the investigator from Scotland Yard and either of the other gentlemen was a well known hunter. On radio, people had been warned for a tiger who escaped a circus. You see, they are all in this comedy found already dead, except the butler James and Miss Sophie for sure. I love to see it every New Year’s Eve and being broadcasted to main channel as well as some regional channels.

they actually broadcast this show on new years eve at least 6-8 times on different channels and different times. so every family has the chance to watch it matching the rest of their new years eve traditions.

It's so universal and funny, anyone can watch it and have fun again and again. I think this was the first TV show I ever saw when I was just a few years old, and we have been watching it on new years eve ever since. By now we are doing that well into the next generations, and they all love it too. It's a trafition...😅

The german comedian, actor and producer Peter Frankenfeld saw Freddy Frinton's show once in GB. Living in Hamburg, Peter and the regional broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) which is part of the national broadcast ARD (Allgemeiner Deutscher Rundfunk) recorded this live with an audience out of its own staff in 1962/1963 and it is a national TV show ever since.

Dinner for One was a huge fail in the UK, but survived in Germany and became a new year treat everyone watches!

When you watch TV on New Year's Eve in Germany, it's hard to avoid this. Me and my family have always liked it. What we liked even more is the "New Year's Eve Punch" from „One Heart and One Soul“. And Mr. Bean is a legend in Germany, too.

It´s always so funny that British people are so surprised of it airing in Germany and some don´t know it. There was also a parody to that from Otto Waalkes and Ralf Schmitz. 😁

I am now 26 years old and I watched it every single year. There even exists a drinking game for the sketch but I can’t drink that much so I watch it for the feeling of the coziness and the memories of a happy childhood

The version shown on TV every year is a bit different. The room looks more like an old property and there are a few more questions James asks (e.g. before he plays Admiral von Schneider and kicking his heels, he asks: "Oh must I, Miss Sofie?" And she answers "James? Please!")

Like many others said before....there is no New Years Eve here in Germany without watching "Dinner for One" at least once. The other Version with a short introduction ahead of the sketch is even better. The Stairs prob is different & there is a table cloth on the table. The laughter of the live audience is amazing. You really have to watch that version as well!

The secret behind this comedy is the fact the laughter is quicker than the tear. To be honest, it's a bit of a bittersweet comedy. New Year's Eve is the time of reflecting the last year. Family members or friends have died, or gone away. The empty seats at the table remind of the loved ones that have passed away. But just before the tears get in your eyes, the butler slips over the tiger head - again, and again, and again. And the question "Is the soup the same as last year"? And the answer to that, "it's the same as every year", reminds you that some things never change. We will always lose something or someone, every year. It is good to remember that on the last day of the year. Gone, but not forgotten. After about 15 minutes, it's time to leave the past and to welcome the new year with hope and joy.

As a Swiss I've watched this every year for i don't even know how many years. It's not hard to do given it's on tv every year on new years eve so that's kinda the reason people watch it every year because it's no hassle. You just turn on the tv and it's just there. It's same procedure as every year haha Honestly, you mentioning Mr. Bean....Mr. Bean is iconic. I grew up watching his comedy and given there are no words it's so universal and so many people love it. Rowan Atkinson truly is a gem.

Not only in Germany, we watch it in Austria, too. Very popular here :) And yes, we love Mr. Bean as well!

This is not the recording which is broadcasted here every year but a VERY close one. In the "German" version is a host who explains the situation first in German AND there is a little mishap where even Freddie broke for a split second and had to laugh what makes it even funnier. When he "snipers" the cup of Sir Toby he hits so perfect that it flips over and he had to get the "whine" back from the desk into the cup. Also May Warden was surprised at this moment because she got splashed. Sadly this exact version seems to be only available on German television mediathek and I am afraid it will be blocked outside Germany as long you dont use a VPN.

Watching it for 43 years now and Im already looking forward to it to watch it again. And you dont have to worry to miss it because several channels are showing it numerous times on new years eve.

German here. I love Dinner for One. We watch it every year at new years eve. EVERY YEAR :D

Despite of having become a ''tradition'', i feel this little piece is giving a wholesome, nice and relaxed start into a party evening every year.

Funny sidenote is that Freddy Frinton supposedly never had any alcohol in his life. true or not i dont know, but it makes his performance even better. And i am pretty sure the Tiger was not planned ahead, somebody jjust put it there and Freddy went with it ^^

I'm from Germany and we watched this every year when I was a child and sometimes still do now. Though I remember a different version, with a fancier set and I think different actors, but the play is the same. I now remember the adults once did the whole dinner, like every course on 'Silvester'.

I watched it every year from childhood ( I am 71 years old), but when I moved to Denmark when I was 30, I thought that was it. But no, here is a tradition, too. It became an integrated part of New Years Eve.

I think every German knows this, since its shown on TV for the past 50 or so years. And the humour is somehow never getting old, with the slapstick and the kinky ending. It is indeed a bit strange that this was never widely known in Britain, until they heard how famous it had become in Germany.