Well, if there's nothing on television

Christmas Day, that time of year when you can no longer avoid those unwanted relatives, have to wear those embarrassing jumpers your Auntie knitted you and the old relatives insist on watching the Queen just in case the Daily Express missed some small nugget of Royal ephemera during the year.

Not in our house and certainly not in a number of houses given this story.  I've linked to the Daily Telegraph but the Independent features it as well.

It's a sign of the times, get up early, settle the kids down, put the turkey in and then open up the laptop, chrome book etc and buy that special 'bargain'. It's not just online shopping that 'benefits' from the Christmas break. Last year 1,548 people filed their tax return online at HMRC instead of watching Dr.Who and Call the Midwife, that was a 40% increase on the year before and a similar increase is expected this year.

Of course it's not all light and fluffy on Christmas Day, it's estimated that 91,000 employees will be asked to work by their employers and if they refuse, as has been the case for some Next employees, they could find themselves spending Boxing Day searching the Internet for jobs rather than reduced offers. Nearly 200,000 people will be working in the U.K tomorrow, in many cases it is simply a requirement if the country is to function properly again on Thursday - as trains, planes and other elements key to the infrastructure must be readied overnight.    

I've always felt sorry for those who work in the newspaper industry, and not just because of my family connection to Fleet Street. Imagine having to go to work Christmas Day afternoon to produce a paper that nobody really wants on Boxing Day with very little news in it that couldn't wait an extra day. No longer just the dead tree press that needs servicing, all the online news outlets will have staff on duty tomorrow just in case.