By Abbie Llewelyn For Mailonline
Published: 07:58 EDT, 17 June 2024 | Updated: 07:58 EDT, 17 June 2024
British TV drama Dinner for One is getting a spin-off bid successful Germany, with the country's astir celebrated movie workplace producing six marque caller episodes.
Beloved successful Europe but virtually forgotten successful the UK, the 1960s sketch amusement sees Dplaying a butler to May Warden's Miss Sophie, an precocious people English woman.
The 10-minute black-and-white regular is astir a 90-year-old woman who is unaware that 4 of her adjacent antheral friends person died.
Each twelvemonth she invites them circular for a day dinner, forcing her butler, James, to tally astir the array pretending to beryllium her guests arsenic helium gets progressively drunk.
The caller bid volition beryllium a prequel to the archetypal cult classical and prima Alicia von Rittberg, 30, arsenic Miss Sophie.
British drama sketch Dinner for One, which is little-known successful the UK but is hugely fashionable successful Germany and Scandinavia, has go a New Year's Eve staple for millions
The caller mini-series is acceptable to prima Alicia von Rittberg (pictured)
It is acceptable to aerial connected Amazon Prime astatine the extremity of 2025 and volition beryllium the archetypal caller worldly successful galore decades.
Provisionally titled Dinner for Five, it volition diagnostic a cash-strapped Miss Sophie connected the hunt for a hubby astatine the property of 39.
The invites 5 bachelors to her castle for meal but 1 is them is murdered nether mysterious circumstances.
It is apt to beryllium a deed successful bluish and cardinal Europe, wherever the 60-year-old farce remains fashionable to this time and is broadcast each New Year's Eve successful Germany and Scandinavia.
It is estimated that 11.7 cardinal radical successful Germany saw it crossed a twelve antithetic channels connected the New Year's Eve conscionable gone.
The amusement is truthful ubiquitous successful Germany that the drawback phrase, 'Same process arsenic each year?', has entered the fashionable lexicon successful the country.
This is each contempt the programme being banned successful Sweden until 1969 for featuring dense depletion of alcohol, and Grimsby-born histrion Freddie Frinton hating Germans truthful overmuch helium refused to talk the connection connected screen.
Dinner for One initially toured provincial theatres successful the precocious 1950s and was aboriginal recorded for TV successful 1963.
Dinner for One stars May Warden (right) arsenic Miss Sophie, an precocious people English woman, and Freddie Frinton (left) arsenic her butler, James
James inpersonates Miss Sophie's 4 friends, who she doesn't realise are dead, and goes astir consming each their drinks implicit 4 courses; mulligatawny and sherry, North Sea haddock and achromatic wine, chickenhearted with champagne, and effect and port. As helium becomes much and much drunk, the butler slurs his words and repeatedly stumbles implicit a tiger caput rug
Dinner for One, which is besides known arsenic The 90th Birthday (Der 90. Geburtstag successful German), was primitively written by British writer Lauri Wylie for the theatre.
As its popularity successful the UK waned, it took disconnected successful West Germany, spreading arsenic acold arsenic Australia, Finland and the Faroe Islands.
It sparked a taste improvement connected the continent, with cookbooks and adjacent a commemorative stamp being released.
At 1 constituent successful the precocious 1980s, the Guinness Book of World Records named it the astir fashionable amusement successful TV history.
Then, successful 2003, it entered the publication arsenic the most-repeated tv amusement of each time, the aforesaid twelvemonth it aired 19 times connected antithetic stations successful Germany.
The caller mini-series is being filmed astatine the Babelsberg studios connected the Western outskirts of Berlin by the UFA, a accumulation institution that has shaped German cinema since the Weimer epoch with films specified arsenic The Blue Angel and Fritz Lang's Metropolis.
The prima of the caller series, Ms Rittberg, who is descended from aristocracy, is champion known for her relation arsenic a caregiver successful Charité, a palmy TV play astir 1 of Germany's starring probe hospitals astatine the extremity of the 19th century.
Frinton bought the copyright for it from Wylie and past began performing it successful 1945, initially with Warden's daughter, Audrey Maye.
Before each course, James asks his leader if it volition beryllium the 'same process arsenic past year, Miss Sophie?' She replies each time: 'The aforesaid process arsenic each year, James.' The brace repetition the speech for a last clip erstwhile helium follows her up to furniture astatine the extremity of the evening, with James adding: 'Well, I'll bash my precise best'
The caller Miss Sophie, Alicia von Rittberg (pictured), is descended from aristocracy
German shaper Peter Frankenfeld past came crossed it portion scouting for ideas successful Blackpool and invited Frinton to execute it connected surface successful beforehand of a unrecorded TV audience.
For the TV version, Audrey was replaced with her mother, who was 72 astatine the time.
The amusement aired for the archetypal clip connected German presumption NDR successful March 1963.
However, Frinton's dislike of Germany meant that helium refused to talk successful German erstwhile impersonating 1 of the absent guests, Admiral von Schneider.
Instead, helium spoke successful Swedish. The different non-existent meal enactment members were named lone arsenic Mr Pomeroy and Mr Winterbottom.
As good arsenic drinking profuse amounts, James goes astir consuming each their drinks implicit 4 courses: mulligatawny and sherry, North Sea haddock and achromatic wine, chickenhearted with champagne, and effect and port.
As helium becomes much and much drunk, helium slurs his words and repeatedly stumbles implicit a tiger caput rug.
Two versions - an 11-minute 1 and a longer 1 lasting 18 minutes - were released.
The interactions of the characters, played by comedian Frinton and May Warden, sparked a taste improvement connected the continent, with cookbooks and a adjacent commemorative stamp being released
Alicia von Rittberg (pictured) is champion known for her role as a caregiver successful Charité, a palmy TV play astir 1 of Germany's starring probe hospitals astatine the extremity of the 19th century
The amusement became a deed aft being shown connected German TV astatine 7.40pm connected New Year's Eve to capable a spread successful scheduling, and has been connected each twelvemonth since then.
As good arsenic being a deed successful Germany, it is fashionable in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxemburg, Estonia, Austria and adjacent Australia.
The skit is truthful fashionable that broadcasters guarantee it is shown aggregate times passim the time truthful that everyone has a accidental to ticker it.
Before each course, James asks his leader if it volition beryllium the 'same process arsenic past year, Miss Sophie?'
She replies each time: 'The aforesaid process arsenic each year, James.'
The brace repetition the speech for a last clip erstwhile helium follows her up to furniture astatine the extremity of the evening, with James adding: 'Well, I'll bash my precise best'.
The allusions to enactment were reflected by Frinton and Warden's alleged real-life affair.
More adventurous viewers who ticker the sketch, which is broadcast successful English but has a abbreviated instauration successful German, volition effort to support up with James' drinking.
The amusement is shown connected New Year's Eve each twelvemonth successful Germany and Scandinavia. (Pictured: Butler James tips backmost his boss's chair)
Frinton, who died successful 1968, was good known successful Britain. (Pictured: The comedian astatine the Daily Mail's Ideal Home Exhibition with histrion Thora Hird successful 1965)
In 1997, Germany's conservation ministry complained astir the usage of the stuffed tiger that features, saying it was 'not a bully idea'
There are adjacent restaurants that let diners to devour the aforesaid happening arsenic James and Miss Sophie.
However, the sketch has attracted contention too.
In 1997, Germany's conservation ministry complained astir the usage of the stuffed tiger that features, saying it was 'not a bully idea'.
And the Grey Panthers, a militant pensioners' organisation successful Germany, said it was upset due to the fact that of the implied 'old-age sex'.
However, the contention did not halt Germany's past chancellor Angela Merkel from praising the amusement successful her New Year's code successful 2012.
Frinton, who died aged 59 from a bosom onslaught successful 1968, was good known successful Britain, having starred successful BBC amusement Meet The Wife.
But helium was besides hugely fashionable with his drunk comic skit, which saw him deterioration a apical chapeau and tails and transportation a breached cigarette.
Warden died aged 87 successful 1978.
Dinner for One aired successful the UK for the archetypal clip successful 2018, erstwhile it was shown connected Sky Arts.
English (US) ·