European New Year’s Eve TV staple Dinner for One to get prequel treatment

Based on a British variety sketch, comedy is traditionally shown at new year across swathes of mainland Europe

A British music hall sketch that has sunk into obscurity in its country of origin but is an indispensable New Year's Eve ritual in swathes of continental Europe will be given a new lease of life, after the German production powerhouse UFA announced this week it would start filming a six-part prequel next year.

Originally scripted by the variety playwright Lauri Wylie and first performed in English music halls in the 1920s, Dinner for One was recorded as a black-and-white film for German television in the early 60s, it has been a staple of New Year's Eve television schedules in countries also including Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland and Sweden for at least 50 years.