Everyone knows it's not the done thing to just drop in on friends in London, not even your very best friends. Evenings together must, by common agreement, be decided upon by at least fifteen emails batting to and fro offering various dates at least three weeks in advance, and then, once a date is agreed, it is expected that one party will have to cancel at short notice. With such a carefully planned schedule of events, an unexpected ring on the doorbell in London is to be ignored, not welcomed - only the hopelessly socially inept or undesirable, such as Jehovah's Witnesses of door-to-door salesman, would visit without warning.