Dinner for One

Dinner for One, also known as The 90th Birthday, or by its corresponding German alternative title, Der 90. Geburtstag, is a twohander comedy sketch written by British author Lauri Wylie for the theatre. German television station Norddeutscher Rundfunk NDR recorded a performance of the piece in 1963, in its original English language, with a short introduction in German. This comedy sketch went on to become the most frequently repeated TV programme ever.

The sketch presents the 90th birthday of upperclass Englishwoman Miss Sophie, who hosts a celebration dinner every year for her friends Mr Pomeroy, Mr Winterbottom, Sir Toby and Admiral von Schneider. The plot has nothing to do with New Years Eve. There is a Happy New Year toast, but this appears to be purely a reference to Miss Sophies birthday. The problem is that due to Miss Sophies considerable age, she has outlived all of her friends, and so her equally aged manservant James makes his way around the table, impersonating each of the guests in turn. Miss Sophie decides on appropriate drinks to accompany the menu Mulligatawny soup Miss Sophie orders dry sherry, North Sea haddock with white wine, chicken with champagne, and fruit for dessert with port served by James, who finds himself raising and emptying his glass four times per course. That takes its toll, increasingly noticeable in Jamess growing difficulty in pouring the drinks, telling wine glasses from vases of flowers, and refraining from bursting into song. Even before the alcohol begins to exert its influence, he keeps tripping up on the head of a tiger skin lying on the floor on his way from the dinner table to the buffet, although on one occasion he surprises himself by avoiding it only to trip on it on his return from the buffet instead. A bit later, he stops in front of the head, then performs an exaggerated jump across it.After the dinner, Miss Sophie indicates to a very drunk James that she wishes to retire to bed, to which James responds ........

Source: Wikipedia