No Appointment Necessary is a Britcom that aired on BBC1 in 1977, starring Roy Kinnear, Josephine Tewson, and Avril Angers with Robert Dorning.
Alf Butler (Kinnear) is a shifty Cockney greengrocer who also owns Hair a Go-Go, a salon, running it under the name "Monsieur Andre". However, trying to keep both businesses afloat at once causes trouble for poor old Alf and so to manage Hair a Go-Go, he hires Penelope Marshall (Tewson).
Conflict arises when Alf discovers Penelope to be a bossy woman with no patience for his antics, undermining his position as the boss. The rest of the staff is made up of hypochondriac Beryl Armitage (Angers), ditzy Sandra (Claire Faulconbridge), and nerdy Mervyn (Denis Bond). Rounding out the cast is Colonel Marshall (Dorning), Penelope's senile father.
While still existing in the archives, the series is unable to be watched as it hasn't been re-aired since 1977 nor released on home media or streaming.
Not to be mistaken for the 2017 film of the same name.
No Tropes Necessary:
- Boob-Based Gag: In the Pilot, Alf catches a buxom customer squeezing one of his melons and tells her off, asking her how she would like it, all while gazing at her chest.
- Brainless Beauty: Sandra is lacking in brains but makes up for it in the beauty department.
- British Brevity: Only one series of seven episodes was made.
- Fauxreigner: Alf Butler is a shifty Cockney man trying to run a salon under the name "Monsieur Andre" to attract more clients.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Penelope seems to have problems with everyone working at Hair a Go-Go, as her efforts to raise business gets on their nerves.
- Hypochondria: Beryl is a chronic hypochondriac and always thinks she's coming down with something.
- Mayor Pain: In "Like Father, Like Son", Alf is forced by Reg Hodgekiss, the Mayor, to employ his son, Nicholas. Alf is the only one who enjoys this, seeing Nicholas as "an investment" due to his powerful father.
- No Full Name Given: We don't get to find out Sandra or Mervyn's last names, nor Colonel Marshall's first name.
- Pilot: The first episode was aired alongside the other six but was produced first as a pilot. As a result, it doesn't have a proper title.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title:
- "The Shampoo Jungle" takes its title from the novel The Blackboard Jungle.
- "The French Connexion" is a play on the film The French Connection.
- Scatterbrained Senior: Colonel Marshall is going senile and causes much trouble for his daughter Penelope.
- Short-Runners: The series ran for only seven episodes.
- Shout-Out: The fifth episode is titled "An Offer You Can't Refuse", after the iconic line from The Godfather.
- Special Guest: Elizabeth Larner got special billing when she played Mrs. Stone in "Publish and be Damned".
- Status Quo Is God:
- In "An Offer You Can't Refuse", it seems Beryl will resign from her position at Hair a Go-Go and run a salon of her own, but by the end of the episode, she's back to working under Alf and Penelope.
- Mayor Reg Hodgekiss forces Alf to employ his son, Nicholas, in "Like Father, Like Son", although he doesn't stay long.
- "Shampoo and Set... and Shave!" sees Alf add facilities for men to Hair a Go-Go, but after the stir this causes the idea is dropped for good.
- With a Foot on the Bus: Beryl considers leaving Hair a Go-Go in "An Offer You Can't Refuse" to run a rival salon but in the end, she doesn't go through with it.
