This German New Years TV tradition is virtually unknown in the English-speaking world, even though it’s in English
(WHTM) — The 1963 comedy sketch “Dinner for One” was born in Britain and all the dialogue is usually shown in English, but almost no one in the English-speaking community has ever heard of it.
“Dinner for One,” which is also known as “The 90th Birthday,” or “Der 90. Geburtstag,” in German, depicts the annual dinner party of a woman named Miss Sophie, played by English actress and comedian Mary Warden.
In the film Miss Sophie is celebrating her 90th birthday with her four closest friends: Admiral von Schneider, Mr. Pomeroy, Sir Toby and Mr. Winterbottom. The only problem is that she has outlived all of them.
Refusing to let the physical absence of her friends spoil her fun, Miss Sophie has her butler James, played by actor and comedian Freddie Frinton, impersonate the four men over multiple hilarious courses.
The film is also often shown with a brief introduction narrated in German by actor Heinz Piper.
The 18-minute film is a cult classic in Germany, where millions of people tune in to watch the film as it is broadcast every New Year’s Eve.
In fact, according to a 2016 German survey from the YouGov institute, 93% of respondents said they were familiar with the film and about 1 out of 3 said they watched it that year.
Google Trends data from 2004 to the present, shows that the film was most searched for in European countries, with the top search areas being Norway, Germany, Denmark Luxembourg and Austria.
This year, just after the film’s 60th anniversary in 2023, it is also starting to reach a new audience through TikTok. Some clips of the film have gone viral on the platform, reaching hundreds of thousands of views.
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