''Tracy Beaker Returns'' is a British television programme. Based upon the novels by

Jacqueline Wilson Dame Jacqueline Wilson (née Aitken; born 17 December 1945) is an English novelist known for her popular children's literature. Her novels have been notable for featuring realistic topics such as adoption and divorce without alienating her lar ...

, it is the sequel series to ''

The Story of Tracy Beaker ''The Story of Tracy Beaker'' is a British children's book first published in 1991, written by Jacqueline Wilson and illustrated by Nick Sharratt. Background The book is told from the point of view of Tracy Beaker, a troubled ten-year-old gi ...

''. The series stars

Dani Harmer Danielle Jane Harmer (born 8 February 1989) is an English actress, television personality, and former singer. She is best known for her lead role as Tracy Beaker in the CBBC series ''The Story of Tracy Beaker'' (2002–2006), ''Tracy Beaker R ...

reprising her role as protagonist

Tracy Beaker Tracy, Tracey, or Tracie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tracy (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname, also encompassing spelling variations Places United States * Tracy, C ...

. The third and final series ended on 23 March 2012. A sequel spin-off entitled ''

The Dumping Ground ''The Dumping Ground'' (also informally referred to as ''The DG'') is a British children's television drama series that focuses on the lives and experiences of young people who live in a children's home with their care workers in care. The ser ...

'' started airing on 4 January 2013.

Premise

When author

is arrested for using her adoptive mother Cam's credit card to publish her autobiography, she seeks refuge at Elmtree House, a care home nicknamed "The Dumping Ground" where she used to live as a child. She meets the children who are intrigued by her and her story. Wanting to pay Cam back, Tracy asks the head care worker, Mike (

Connor Byrne Connor Byrne (born 18 March 1964) is an Irish actor and former dancer, known for his role as Mike Milligan in ''The Story of Tracy Beaker'', ''Tracy Beaker Returns'' and ''The Dumping Ground''. Having played the role from 2002 to 2019, he is t ...

), for a job. As Mike is short-staffed, he agrees to hire her as an assistant care worker since she knows so much about life in care. Tracy then uses her background as a former child in care to become fully involved in the children's lives.

Production

The first series was produced in summer 2009, then provisionally known as ''Beaker's Back''. Set designers revamped buildings of the former La Sagesse convent school in the

Jesmond Jesmond is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, situated to the east of the Town Moor. Jesmond is considered to be one of the most affluent suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, with higher average house prices than most other areas of the city. H ...

area of

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

into the children's home, retaining the Elm Tree House name from series 5 of

. The father's house was developed into the exterior of Elm Tree House, whilst the show's interior scenes were filmed in a grander building elsewhere on the same site. Classroom buildings and the Jesmond Towers were also used for scenes, as well as local landmarks such as the MetroCentre shopping centre. Production continued at La Sagesse through series two and three and into the first series of

until property owners Barratt Homes decided to redevelop the school buildings into a luxury housing estate. The recognisable exterior of Elm Tree House has since been demolished though the building used for interior scenes partially remains intact.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Ratings

Episode ratings from

BARB Barb or the BARBs or ''variation'' may refer to: People * Barb (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Barb, a term used by fans of Nicki Minaj to refer to themselves * The Barbs, a band Places * Barb, ...

Development and production

In March 2009, the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

announced the new 13-part series under the working title ''Beaker's Back!''. The series was filmed in the old

La Sagesse School La Sagesse School was a 3–18, Catholic Church, Roman Catholic, Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school for Single-sex education, girls in Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. It was established in 1906 and closed ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

in the summer of 2009, and directed by

Neasa Hardiman Neasa Hardiman is an Irish director of both fiction and nonfiction, predominantly known for her television work. Hardiman began her career producing a number of shows for the RTÉ network in Ireland and has since worked on both British and Ame ...

, Craig Lines and Michael Davies. In February 2010, it was announced that ''Tracy Beaker Returns'' would be renewed for a second series to air in 2011. Filming took place throughout summer and autumn of 2010 and premiered on 7 January 2011. It was announced on 12 March 2011 that a third series has been commissioned to be filmed entirely in the North East. The third series later premiered on 6 January 2012. A spin-off series has been commissioned by the

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

, titled ''

'' and started airing on 4 January 2013.

Awards and nominations

It won the Children's BAFTA award on 28 November 2010 for best drama. On the same night,

and

Richard Wisker Richard Wisker (born 1 February 1995) is a BAFTA Award-nominated British actor and presenter from Dagenham, England, known for his role as Liam O'Donovan in ''Tracy Beaker Returns''. From 2013 to 2015 he portrayed Rich in the CBBC series ''Dani's ...

received nominations in the performer category. It also won a Royal Television Award in 2011, in the Children's Drama Category.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{The Dumping Ground Series 2010s British children's television series 2010 British television series debuts 2012 British television series endings CBBC shows BBC children's television shows British children's drama television series The Story of Tracy Beaker Tracy Beaker series Television shows set in Newcastle upon Tyne Television series about orphans Television series about children Television series about teenagers British teen drama television series Television series by BBC Studios