Song of a GP: folk musicians tell stories of modern British lives for BBC

The Unthanks perform Morrison’s song about Katie Toner, who organises organises accessible parties and sleepovers for neurodiverse children. Photograph: BBC/21st Century Folk

A series of contemporary folk songs and short films were released on Sunday as part of the 21st Century Folk initiative to celebrate the lives and experiences of five people across the north-east of England.

The programmes, launched by BBC Radio 2 in partnership with BBC Local Radio, follow the songwriters as they meet the people selected to take part in the project. The songwriters were then tasked with creating folk music from the contributors’ stories that told relatable tales of life in the north-east, which were then performed by local musicians.