Germany's famous New Year's Eve television sketch featuring Miss Sophie and James is called Dinner for One.
The short English-language comedy stars May Warden as Miss Sophie and Freddie Frinton as her butler, James. Miss Sophie celebrates her 90th birthday with absent friends, so James serves dinner and drinks while impersonating each guest. His repeated line, “The same procedure as every year,” became strongly associated with German New Year's Eve.
The sketch was written by British author Lauri Wylie and was recorded for German television in 1963. Although it is little known in Britain compared with its German status, it became an annual broadcast tradition in Germany and several other European countries.
The title can mislead English-speaking viewers because the program is not German-language television. It is a British comedy performance preserved through German broadcasting. Its popularity also explains why many German viewers regard the repeat as part of the holiday ritual rather than merely an old television program.