Words and Music

Original version

BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

Drama

Music: Classical

A journey of discovery, weaving music with poetry and prose read by leading actors.

A weekly journey of discovery, weaving together a range of music with poetry and prose read by leading actors.

Words and Music: Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

BBC Radio 3 - Words and Music, Merry Christmas

Dominic West and Gemma Whelan with festive readings and music

With readings from C.S Lewis, Anne Bronte, Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Laura Ingalls Wilder, and a feast of seasonal music from classical to contemporary

Dominic West (The Crown/The Affair) and Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones/Gentleman Jack) read poetry and prose exploring everything that makes for a magical Christmas, alongside a feast of seasonal music from classical to contemporary. We’ve a winter walk with Robert Louis Stevenson, Christmas dinner with PG Wodehouse, Christmas music with William Wordsworth and Anne Bronte, a school nativity with Clare Bevan, and the King’s speech as imagined by Brian Bilston. And we’ll enter the magical worlds of Narnia when Christmas finally comes, the Wind in the Willows complete with Yule-tide mice, and Little House on the Prairie as Laura and Mary discover that Santa has visited them after all. Along the way we’ll hear traditional carols and festive music by  Kate Rusby, Nils Frahm, Louis Armstong, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Harry Gregson-Williams and Arcangelo Corelli. 

Producer: Ruth Thomson

READINGS
Brian Bilston - The Kings Speech
Wendy Cope - Motorway Music
Frank O’Connor - Christmas Morning
Kenneth Graeme - Wind in the Willows
Robert Louis Stevenson - Winter Time
Claire Bevan - Just Doing My Job
P.G Wodehouse - Another Christmas Carol
Anne Bronte - Music on Christmas Morning
William Wordsworth – Minstrels
Laura Ingalls Wilder - Little House on the Prairie
Kingsley Amis - Ending Up
L Kiew - December Began With Shopping
C.S Lewis - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Charles Dickens - Sketches by Boz

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

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Programme Index

Words and Music

Merry Christmas

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BBC Radio 3

About BBC Radio 3