Asking a German[or Swedish] person if they know Dinner For One is a guaranteed way to make their eyes light up. The film is about a bonkers aristocrat Miss Sophie who celebrates her 90th birthday with friends who, given they’ve all died off, are imaginary. Her butler, James, comically fills in for each of them, mimicking their voices, drinking their toasts in turn and getting steadily more sloshed. It’s been shown every New Year’s Eve in Germany since the early 70s and is nothing short of a national institution. When your acquaintance, hours later, is done enthusing and quoting, quietly point out to them that, despite holding a Guinness Record for the most aired TV program in history, Dinner For One has never, ever been screened in Britain or the States, and only a few times in Australia.

´How the hell did it come to be shown both on Swedish and German television every new years eve? Does it hold true also for the other Scandis?