Dinner for One: The British sitcom adored in Germany
Millions of people in Germany watch British sitcom Dinner for One ever New Year's Eve but few people in the UK have heard of it.
The sketch is about a woman, Miss Sophie, celebrating her 90th birthday with her butler and four friends. The only problem is her friends are all dead. Every time Miss Sophie, played by May Warden stands up to toast, the butler has to drink, becoming increasingly drunk throughout the evening.
When German TV host Thomas Frankenfeld came across the sketch at a performance in Blackpool, he knew he had to take it Germany. Convincing Freddie Frinton, who played the butler and owned the copyright, wasn't easy though. Frinton had performed for British troops during World War Two and was reluctant to take part.
Peter Frankenfeld tells Vicky Farncombe how his father won Frinton over and inspired an annual tradition in Germany and across other parts of Europe.
(Picture: Dinner for One, 1963, Credit: United Archives/Getty Images)
