“Dinner for One” is the German New Year's Eve television sketch featuring Miss Sophie and her butler James.
The short English-language comedy was written by British author Lauri Wylie and became famous in Germany after a televised performance recorded in 1963. Freddie Frinton plays James, while May Warden plays Miss Sophie, who celebrates her ninetieth birthday with an imaginary dinner party for four absent friends.
James serves the courses and repeatedly drinks the guests' beverages, producing the sketch's central comic routine. His recurring line, “The same procedure as every year,” became strongly associated with German New Year's Eve broadcasts.
Despite its German holiday status, the sketch originated in Britain and is performed in English. It was not initially a major British television tradition. The program's popularity spread to several other European countries, where it is also shown around the turn of the year.