“The same procedure as every year, James…”
The probably most iconic 18 minutes on German TV will be running eleven times again tomorrow: Finally “Dinner for One” again!
Miss Sophie and her tipsy butler James are a TV tradition in Germany. Your “Dinner for One” is simply part of a perfect New Year’s Eve. In 2022, the cult sketch will even celebrate its 50th anniversary: On December 31, 1972, the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) in Hamburg established the tradition of broadcasting the piece on New Year’s Eve.
Since then, no new year has gone by without it.
A separate series about Miss Sophie and her four deceased friends (Sir Toby, Admiral von Schneider, Mr. Pommeroy and Mr. Winterbottom) is currently being planned, as the production company UFA Fiction announced together with showrunner Tommy Wosch. Working title: “Dinner for Five”.
Until the series airs, let’s keep having fun with Dinner for One. The strangest facts, stories and background information about the only true New Year’s Eve hit!
A few numbers to start with…
► The piece was written in the 1920s by British author Lauri Wylie († 1951).
► TV legend Peter Frankenfeld (1913-1979) discovered it in 1963 as a stage version in a theater in Blackpool (England). NDR then recorded the sketch with the same cast: Freddie Frinton (1909-1968) as Butler James, May Warden (1891-1978) as Miss Sophie.
► Fee for the shoot (1 week): once each 4159 marks!
► The fact that the piece became a New Year’s classic in Germany goes back to ex-NDR entertainment boss Henri Regnier (1917-1988). He retrieved the tape from the archives in 1972 and aired the skit on the last day of the year.
► According to NDR, 25 years ago (1997) more people watched “Dinner for One” (11.9 million) than the Chancellor’s New Year’s speech (9.3 million) – then Helmut Kohl.
► Last year even 15 million people (!) tuned in to “Dinner for One”!
The tiger should be a polar bear!
► Count this year: Freddie Frinton tripped over the legendary tiger skin eleven times. And he and May Warden, aka Miss Sophie, say the cult phrase “The same procedure as every year” six times each.
► The tiger carpet that drives Butler James crazy was not intended at all! During a stage performance, he was laid on the floor at the request of a mayor. The legendary stumblers weren’t in the script either. Frinton accidentally fell over it during the performance, the audience burst out laughing – and it became part of the show.
This tiger caused a lot of trouble for butler James – and loud laughter from the “Dinner for One” fans
► The tiger was supposed to be a polar bear: For the TV sketch, the producers actually wanted polar bear fur. But Frinton had a mind of his own, bringing his private (!) tiger rug from home. However, it was already so old that it was supposedly pimped up with leopard skin.
► It almost didn’t come to THE cult cast! Frinton HATED “Dinner for One” and wanted to cancel. Only after watching the plot several times did he agree.
► Where he disagreed: Although the play was recorded by NDR for the German market, Frinton refused to speak German in certain scenes. Alleged reason: He had fought against Germany in World War II and rejected the country and the language.
Miss Sophie and her butler! At the beginning he welcomes her to dinner. At the end of the evening they both disappear on the first floor…
► In the background you can hear a woman with a fit of laughter! Who is laughing their heads off the camera? Sonja Göth, wife of the gaffer at the time. Who can blame her – “Dinner for One” has been causing stomachaches from laughter in our living rooms for 50 years.
► The trick with the fish: After the starter, James serves “North Sea Haddock” – North Sea haddock with mustard sauce. But fish connoisseur fans will definitely notice: Miss Sophie does not eat any haddock during the recording. Because the fish on the plate is much smaller – maybe a trout?
► The plan to reshoot the sketch in color failed: Freddie Frinton died two months earlier of heart failure at the age of just 59.
► In 2016, Allianz insurance calculated the damage caused by the drunk butler: a whopping 2,120 euros. The legendary Tiger recorded the largest single damage with cleaning costs of 2000 euros.
App users can take the survey here: “Dinner for One” – a must for you on New Year’s Eve?
SO drunk makes this evening
Butler James drinks a glass of alcohol 18 times in the sketch – not counting the vase. The set secret: Frinton only drank juice while filming – he hardly ever consumed alcohol in real life.
But how drunk would Frinton have been if he had actually drunk as much as Butler James did in the sketch?
As a reminder, there is sherry for the starter. White wine for the first course and champagne for the second course. Miss Sophie wants port wine for dessert.
And another glass! James dutifully drinks to the end. And puts himself wonderfully funny in the roles of Miss Sophie’s four dead friends
Since butler James always dutifully drank and drank for all four of Miss Sophie’s dead friends, he emptied 16 glasses by the end of the evening.
At around 85 kilograms, Butler James would then have a violent 2.1 per mille! A woman with 69 kilos even life-threatening three per thousand! At the end of the day nobody could have accompanied the other so easily up to the first floor for a sweetheart’s hour.
Incidentally, the play was banned in Sweden for six years. The country was bothered by the excessive consumption of alcohol. From 1969 it was released again. Bottom up!
