Dinner for One
Created | Updated Oct 1, 2006
Who say's the German's don't have a sense of humour?
Dinner for One is a unique occurrence: A forgotten piece of British comedy that has taken root in a number of European countries and become an integral part of their culture. The 18 minute B&W sketch has been screened every New Years Eve since 1964 in Germany and for almost as long in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and Denmark and Norway. And, while the actors and dialogue are English, the UK remains one of the few countries in Europe where it is totally unknown, having never been shown on TV in Britain.
The basic set-up is as follows: Every year Miss Sophie (May Warden) celebrates her birthday by enjoying a meal with 4 of her closest friends - Sir Toby, Admiral von Schneider, Mr Pommeroy and Mr Winterbottom. Unfortunately, they have all passed away years before so her butler, James (Freddie Frinton) impersonates each of the guests. The problem is that every course has a toast and James must drink every guest's drinks, so that what begins very formally slowly degenerates, with James going from reserved servitude to staggering fool with Miss Sophie seemingly unaware of her butler's inebriated condition. At the beginning of every course he asks "Same procedure as last year, miss Sophie?" and always gets the same expected reply "Same procedure as every year, James." Finally the meal (and madness) closes with a surprisingly suggestive final punch line.
Originally, Dinner for One was written by Lauri Wylie, and premiered at Duke of York's Theatre in London in 1948. Later Frinton began performing it around England with the role of Miss Sophie being played by a young actress called Audrey Maye. When she decided to leave the tour circuit she suggested her mother May Warden for the part, and it was in this version that the sketch became most famous. It came to be filmed for television after German entertainer Peter Frankenfeld and his colleague Heinz Dunkhase witnessed their performance during a visit to Blackpool in 1963. They managed to persuade Frinton and Warden to come to Germany although Frinton did have some reservations, not at all keen on Germany and its inhabitants and he also refused to perform the sketch in German. He also insisted on the tiger that he stumbles over more than once. This was an addition by Frinton to the sketch after it had been requested by a local mayor in a town the show was being played in. When Frinton stumbled over it by accident during a show it produced such laughter among the audience that he decided to keep the tiger and make it a part of the show.
So what reasons are there for Dinner for One's continued popularity? As Mr Bean's popularity has demonstrated, physical comedy is universal. But the key, I believe, is Frinton's performance. After so many years with the material his comic timing is spot-on and it's a marvel to watch. He so convincingly plays a doddering old man that you'd never believe he was 35 when filming took place. A few years ago one of Germany's TV stations attempted an adaptation in German with German actors, which proved a disaster. It's only a shame that a proposed colour version of the sketch had to be abandoned after Frinton unfortunately died just three weeks before filming.
So is it still popular today? Well, One year, DR (the national Danish TV broadcast station) decided not to air it, only to be swamp the next day with complaints from viewers. DR hasn't skipped it once since. I think that say's it all really.
Dinner for One is a unique occurrence: A forgotten piece of British comedy that has taken root in a number of European countries and become an integral part of their culture. The 18 minute B&W sketch has been screened every New Years Eve since 1964 in Germany and for almost as long in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and Denmark and Norway. And, while the actors and dialogue are English, the UK remains one of the few countries in Europe where it is totally unknown, having never been shown on TV in Britain.
The basic set-up is as follows: Every year Miss Sophie (May Warden) celebrates her birthday by enjoying a meal with 4 of her closest friends - Sir Toby, Admiral von Schneider, Mr Pommeroy and Mr Winterbottom. Unfortunately, they have all passed away years before so her butler, James (Freddie Frinton) impersonates each of the guests. The problem is that every course has a toast and James must drink every guest's drinks, so that what begins very formally slowly degenerates, with James going from reserved servitude to staggering fool with Miss Sophie seemingly unaware of her butler's inebriated condition. At the beginning of every course he asks "Same procedure as last year, miss Sophie?" and always gets the same expected reply "Same procedure as every year, James." Finally the meal (and madness) closes with a surprisingly suggestive final punch line.
Originally, Dinner for One was written by Lauri Wylie, and premiered at Duke of York's Theatre in London in 1948. Later Frinton began performing it around England with the role of Miss Sophie being played by a young actress called Audrey Maye. When she decided to leave the tour circuit she suggested her mother May Warden for the part, and it was in this version that the sketch became most famous. It came to be filmed for television after German entertainer Peter Frankenfeld and his colleague Heinz Dunkhase witnessed their performance during a visit to Blackpool in 1963. They managed to persuade Frinton and Warden to come to Germany although Frinton did have some reservations, not at all keen on Germany and its inhabitants and he also refused to perform the sketch in German. He also insisted on the tiger that he stumbles over more than once. This was an addition by Frinton to the sketch after it had been requested by a local mayor in a town the show was being played in. When Frinton stumbled over it by accident during a show it produced such laughter among the audience that he decided to keep the tiger and make it a part of the show.
So what reasons are there for Dinner for One's continued popularity? As Mr Bean's popularity has demonstrated, physical comedy is universal. But the key, I believe, is Frinton's performance. After so many years with the material his comic timing is spot-on and it's a marvel to watch. He so convincingly plays a doddering old man that you'd never believe he was 35 when filming took place. A few years ago one of Germany's TV stations attempted an adaptation in German with German actors, which proved a disaster. It's only a shame that a proposed colour version of the sketch had to be abandoned after Frinton unfortunately died just three weeks before filming.
So is it still popular today? Well, One year, DR (the national Danish TV broadcast station) decided not to air it, only to be swamp the next day with complaints from viewers. DR hasn't skipped it once since. I think that say's it all really.
