Comments on: The Christmas special which might have been

Question: The Christmas special which might have been

wsp — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:27:14 -0800

NameThatMovieFilter: I need help remembering the name of an old black-and-white Christmas special from the BBC. Problem: it may not have been a Christmas special, or from the BBC!

A few years back I watched what I remember to be an old black-and-white BBC Christmas special. It is somewhat famous, but I remember so little of it that my Googling has turned up nothing.

Here's what I remember:

-It was British, probably from the BBC, in black and white.
-There was a butler/butlers serving dinner to an elderly woman or women.
-Alcohol featured prominently - everyone ended up drunk.
-Relied heavily on slapstick comedy, but was funny nonetheless.
-It was Christmas.
-The entire movie was shot with one set, a dining room.
-There was a twist ending.
-It was short. (Half-hour maybe.)

The thing is that I have a really bad memory and thus any or all of the above could be wrong. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that the entire thing is just a figment of my imagination. I remember it being introduced to me as pretty famous and as one of the better-known Christmas specials, so - if it does exist - I'm hoping a fellow MeFite has heard of it. Any help would be greatly appreciated - this is driving me insane!

By: roger ackroyd

roger ackroyd — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:44:59 -0800

Dinner For One?

(youtube)

By: Iteki

Iteki — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:01:59 -0800

Was coming in to suggest the same thing. Hugely popular at New Years in Sweden for some reason.

By: InsanePenguin

InsanePenguin — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 04:43:01 -0800

Was definitely Dinner For One.

By: Your Time Machine Sucks

Your Time Machine Sucks — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 05:51:08 -0800

It's been hugely popular in Germany since the 1960s and is broadcast repeatedly around New Year's, and its popularity has spread to a lot of nearby countries. I know a lot of Germans who can recite much of it verbatim, although it is relatively unknown in the UK. It has all the ingredients for Continental non-native-English-speaker hilarity: physical comedy, phrase repetition, a sexual joke, a drinking joke, and upper-class English stereotypes.

By: gemmy

gemmy — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 09:03:08 -0800

yea, Dinner for One. I can probably recite it verbatim too. Growing up it was a total tradition to watch it on New Years Eve and then quote it for days afterward.

By: Iteki

Iteki — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 10:58:01 -0800

I've been thinking about this a bit more and I think maybe the reason it's popular in Scandyland etc is that slapstick and corny humour is still very popular, at least in Sweden.

By: galaksit

galaksit — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 13:39:30 -0800

> it is relatively unknown in the UK.

Like the article you linked says, it is really is UNKNOWN in the UK, not relatively unknown. I knew of it only through articles like that one and a German night-school teacher who told us about it.

By: Your Time Machine Sucks

Your Time Machine Sucks — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:34:42 -0800

Eh, I've met a number of people from the UK who knew of it, but always as a continental phenomenon.

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:03:46 -0800

> it is relatively unknown in the UK

A few Christmases ago one of the news programs, possibly Newsnight, did a feature on it... and I think I remember it being mentioned on something before that, but I've never seen the whole thing broadcast in the UK