Editing Dinner for One (section)

{{Short description|1963 TV comedy sketch repeated every New Year}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox television
| image          = Dinner_for_One_VHS_Video_Cover.jpg
| caption        = 
| writer         = [[Lauri Wylie]]
| director       = Heinz Dunkhase
| presenter      = Heinz Piper
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* [[Freddie Frinton]]
* [[May Warden]]
  }}
| released       = {{Start date|1963|7|8|df=y}}
| music          = [[Lew Pollack]]
| runtime        = 18 minutes
| country        = [[West Germany]] 
| language       = English (with German introduction)
| network        = [[Norddeutscher Rundfunk|NDR]]
}}
'''''Dinner for One''''', also known as '''''The 90th Birthday''''' ({{langx|de|link=no|Der 90. Geburtstag}}), is a television comedy sketch that is repeated every [[New Year's Eve]] in several European countries. The [[two-hander]] sketch was originally written by British author [[Lauri Wylie]] for the theatre. After featuring on the stage, the German TV broadcaster, [[Norddeutscher Rundfunk]] (NDR), recorded the sketch in 1963 as an 18-minute black-and-white [[videotape]] recording, performed in English by British comedians [[Freddie Frinton]] and [[May Warden]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Dunkhase |first=Heinz |title=Der 90. Geburtstag oder Dinner for One |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121210/ |type=Short, Comedy |access-date=2023-12-03 |others=Freddie Frinton, May Warden, Heinz Piper |publisher=Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), Schweizer Fernsehen (SF), Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ARD) |last2=Marazzi |first2=Franco}}</ref> The sketch begins with an introduction in German, followed by the main act in English, and is available online.<ref>{{Citation |title=Dinner for One – Das Original|url=https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/dinner-for-one/dinner-for-one-das-original/das-erste/Y3JpZDovL2Rhc2Vyc3RlLm5kci5kZS80NDM3XzIwMjAtMTItMzEtMTUtNTA
 |access-date=2024-06-09 |language=en}}</ref>

It has become traditional viewing on New Year's Eve in countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Estonia.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/30/people-all-over-the-world-watch-dinner-for-one-on-new-years-eve|title = People all over the world watch ''Dinner for One'' on New Year's Eve|newspaper = The Economist|date = 30 December 2020}}</ref> In Norway it is broadcast on 23 December. As of 1995 it was the most frequently [[Rerun|repeated television programme]] in Germany.<ref>''[[Guinness Book of Records]]'', 1988–1995 eds.; later editions no longer have the category</ref> Despite originating as a British stage sketch, the TV version gained only limited recognition in the UK over 50 years after its recording. It was broadcast on New Year's Eve in Britain on [[Sky Arts]] from 2018 to 2020.<ref>{{cite web |title=All repeats of ''Dinner For One'' |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/dinner_for_one/repeats/ |website=British Comedy Guide |access-date=17 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/dec/30/dinner-for-one-german-television-new-years-eve|title=''Dinner for One'': the British comedy Germans have been laughing at for years|last=Bolzen|first=Stefanie|date=30 December 2018|work=The Guardian|access-date=2 January 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

In other parts of the world, the sketch is broadcast in Australia and South Africa. Apart from a few satires, ''Dinner for One'' is not known in the United States,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://phindie.com/17019-dinner-for-one-the-greatest-cult-film-youve-never-heard-of/|title=''Dinner for One'': The greatest cult film you've never heard of|last=Eger|first=Henrik|date=1 February 2018|website=Phindie|access-date=5 January 2019}}</ref> where the comic premise had already been made famous by [[Red Skelton]] and [[Lucille Ball]].

In 2003, Danish TV producer Paul Anthony Sørensen directed and produced a documentary about the sketch that includes interviews with relatives of Freddie Frinton and May Warden. It was nominated for the [[Rose d'Or]] 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marcus |first=Laurence |title=Dinner for One (Der 90. Geburtstag) |url=https://televisionheaven.co.uk/reviews/dinner-for-one |access-date=2023-12-04 |website=Television Heaven |language=en}}</ref>