Leading article: Here's to the resumption of normal service

Only another two days to go now. By Tuesday the country will – we trust – be back to normal, after a jumboid winter break made possible by the happy circumstance of both days falling on a Saturday, pushing the public holidays into the following week.

Yes, there was feasting and visiting and shopping. But after a while the lack of routine starts to grate. Some transport has run and some hasn't. Some services operated a Sunday timetable; some were on strike. Shop hours varied from day to day. Did you manage to buy your champagne last night, before the supermarkets shut (early)?

But it was the BBC that set the standard for departing from the norm. The Today programme offered a crop of variable guest editors. The evening news sometimes happened at 10 o'clock, often not. Newsnight took itself off the air for the duration. Not even WikiLeaks stepped into the breach; its leading light remained under curfew in someone else's country house. So roll on Tuesday. In the meantime we wish you a happy – even if it won't be a prosperous – New Year.