31 December 2010

Happy New Year

Once more the same procedure as last year:



Charming though it is, it is inconceivable that Dinner for One could ever catch on in England. But why should that be? Is it the Englishness about the film that foreigners find so entertaining?

7 comments:

Dr Aust said...

Weiss Ich nicht, geehrter Herr Doktor G. Though the Germans' interest in the stereotype of the old-fashioned Englishman / woman does have a long history, I think.

I wonder whether something like Carry on Up the Khyber, which of course broadly satirises the same sort of idea of British-ness, would be equally popular im Vaterland?

Und ein froehliches neues Jahr! (in advance)

Dr Grumble said...

They even watch 'Allo 'Allo im Vaterland. This comedy seems to go down well in quite a few countries. Fun is made of every nationality and the British writers didn't spare their own: the most incompetent buffoons are definitely the English airmen.

It must be a real challenge to dub programmes like this given the puns and mispronunciations. Or do they watch it in English?

Dr Grumble said...

Oh dear. The airmen speak German just like me!

Dr Grumble said...

Mrs Grumble, who doesn't read the blog, has just pointed out that Dinner for One gets another mention in today's Guardian:


Germany is the unlikely epicentre for a pan-European NYE tradition: the screening of Dinner For One, a black-and-white English-language short about the 90th birthday party of an upper-class Brit. Virtually unheard of in the UK, the skit is the most frequently repeated programme ever, and forms an integral part of the NYE television schedule in Germany, Austria, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Sweden.

hyperCRYPTICal said...

I can't believe it's a full year since I watched this!

Happy New Year!

Anna :o]

Cockroach Catcher said...

Happy New Year.

Anonymous said...

Our German friends introduced us to this wonderful piece some years ago. Infinitely preferable to an evening of bagpipes and other assorted bags of wind fed to us.

The BBC of "'Allo 'allo" has little in common with the cash-to-junk converter bearing the name today.