Dinner for One is the German television sketch traditionally broadcast every New Year's Eve.
The short English-language comedy was written by British author Lauri Wylie and features May Warden as Miss Sophie and Freddie Frinton as her butler, James. Miss Sophie celebrates her ninetieth birthday with a formal dinner, but her four absent guests are represented by the butler, who drinks each guest's beverage and increasingly struggles to maintain his composure.
German television first broadcast the sketch in 1963. It became a recurring New Year's Eve program and is one of the most frequently repeated television productions in Germany. The phrase “same procedure as every year” became especially associated with its annual showing.
Despite its enormous German-speaking audience, the sketch is less well known in Britain, where its original language and performers come from. That contrast is one reason the program is often described as a German New Year's tradition built around British comedy.