The Story of Tracy Beaker (TV series)

The Story of Tracy Beaker

Title Board Series 5
Created by Jacqueline Wilson (Books)
Starring Dani Harmer
Montanna Thompson
Lisa Coleman
Nisha Nayar
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of episodes 120 + 5 specials (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Cas Lester (2002-2003)
Jane Dauncey (2004-2005)
Josephine Ward (2006)
Producer(s) Jane Dauncey (2002-2003)
Mia Jupp (2004, 2006)
Jane Steventon (2005)
Running time 25 minutes (regular series)
70 minutes (Tracy Beaker's Movie of Me
Broadcast
Original channel CBBC
CBBC HD
Original run 8 January 2002 – 5 March 2006
Chronology
Followed by Tracy Beaker Returns (2010–2012)
The Dumping Ground (2013–)
Related shows Tracy Beaker Survival Files (2011–12)
The Dumping Ground Survival Files (2014)

The Story of Tracy Beaker (also known as Tracy Beaker or TSOTB) is a British television programme adapted from the book of the same name by Jacqueline Wilson. It ran on CBBC for five series, from 2002 to 2006 and also contained a feature length episode, Tracy Beaker's Movie of Me, broadcast in 2004, as well as a week of interactive episodes for Children in Need. The theme song was written and performed by Keisha White. All of the five series have been released on DVD and the entire first series has been made available on Netflix.

Episodes

The pilot episode aired on 8 January 2002 and the series finale aired on 5 March 2006. The show spanned a total of five series with 120 episodes in total.

Series 1 introduces the characters and feel of the show. In "Tracy Returns", Tracy moves back into the Dumping Ground. Three episodes in Series 1 form the basis of the show and make the format and atmosphere easy to understand, "Sneaking in Ben" shows Tracy's friendships, "The Truth Is Revealed shows Tracy's way of thinking and "Friend" shows Tracy's way of understanding things. Series 1 also sees the introduction of characters such as Duke, Mike,Louise, Zac, Ryan and Ben.

Synopsis

The story takes place in a British care home, narrated by its lead, Tracy Beaker. In the first three series, Tracy lives at the carehome and the stories revolve around her desire to leave the home, nicknamed 'The Dumping Ground' by its residents. At the start of the fourth series, Tracy becomes fostered by author Cam Lawson (the events of this are depicted in The Movie of Me). The focus of the programme then shifts slightly because the plots often centre on Cam and Tracy's relationship. At 'The Dumping Ground', characters such as Jackie, Crash, Lol and Bouncer have taken over Tracy's narrative role. New characters include the Wellards, Roxy, Rio and Chantal, a trio of tough nut siblings who are the bane of every care worker's existence.

With the fostering of the series' primary antagonist, Tracy's worst enemy, Justine Littlewood, a new family called "The Wellards" are introduced to the home. Tracy's role is reduced further in the final series, notably she does not debut in person until episode 4, with the main narrative being the return of Justine to the 'Dumping Ground'. However when Tracy does return, she moves back into the children's home because she is not happy with Cam's new boyfriend, Gary. Gary and Cam marry and Tracy accepts their relationship, Gary and Cam decide to adopt Tracy full-time. This closes the original series.

From series one to five, the show was filmed in 3 different houses in Wales, however since Tracy Beaker Returns series one, the show has been filmed in 2 houses in Newcastle (the 2nd house began being featured from episode one of series 2 of The Dumping Ground. The original series one to three carehome was called Stowey House, for series four it was Cliffside and for the final series it was Elm Tree. On its 2010 return, Elm Tree House was the prominent name for the carehome and has remained since. In an episode of Tracy Beaker Returns, Tracy suggests the carehome has always been Elm Tree House. She shows the kids a hidden video with archive footage of TSOTB within, and also knew where it was, despite it being called Elm Tree instead of Cliffside (like it was when she left) in episode one of TBR. No reference was made of differences in the interior and exterior of the carehome, and how Tracy seemed to know her way around. In the final episode of TBR, Tracy sits in a window at the bottom of the staircase and Mike says he remembers when she used to sit there years ago waiting for her Mum. The window she used to sit in was either in the dining room (now in the kitchen), the staircase (which no longer has a landing) or the living room or den.

Cast

Kids

Character Actor/Actress Duration
Tracy Beaker Dani Harmer Series 1–5 (recurring series 5)
Justine Littlewood Montanna Thompson Series 1–3, 5 (guest series 4)
Louise Govern Chelsie Padley Series 1–3 (recurring series 3)
Adele Azupadi Rochelle Gadd Series 1–2
Ryan Matthews Sonny Muslim Series 1
Zac Matthews Jay Haher Series 1
Peter Ingham Joe Starrs Series 1
Maxy Jerome Holder Series 1
Laurence 'Lol' Plakova Ciaran Joyce Series 2–5
Bradley 'Bouncer' Plakova Ben Hanson Series 2–5
Dolly Chloe Hibbert-Waters Series 2–3
Amber Hurst Alicia Hooper Series 2
Marco Maloney Jack Edwards Series 3–5
Hayley Kristal Lau Series 3–4
Michael Grys William Tomlin Series 3
Liam 'Crash' Daniels Darragh Mortell Series 3–5
Jackie Hopper Abby Rakic Platt Series 3–5
Layla Cara Readle Series 3–5
Roxy Wellard Sophie Borja Series 4–5
Rio Wellard Craig Roberts Series 4–5
Chantal Wellard Deepal Parmar Series 4–5
Sean 'Wolfie' Lynch Felix Drake Series 4-5
Milly Holly Gibbs Series 5
Rebecca Chalmers Georgina Hagen Series 5
Alice Olivia Grant Series 5

Care Workers

Character Actor/Actress Duration
Elaine 'The Pain' Boyak Nisha Nayar Series 1–5
Norman 'Duke' Ellington Clive Rowe Series 1–4
Jenny Edwards Sharlene Whyte Series 1–2
Mike Milligan Connor Byrne Series 1, 5
Nathan Jones James Cartwright Series 2–3
Shelley Appleton Nicola Reynolds Series 3, 5
Sid Rooney Vincenzo Pellegrino Series 4

Others

Character Actor/Actress Duration
Camilla 'Cam' Lawson Lisa Coleman Series 1–5
Ben Batambuze Luke Youngblood Series 1–2
Steve Littlewood Stephen Crossley/Morgan Hopkins Series 1–3, 5
Samantha Imogen Brown Series 1
Carrie Littlewood Caroline Bunce/Kathrin Dimeky Series 2–3, 5
Grandpa Jack Hopper Howell Evans Series 3–4
Wilson Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins Series 3
Jake Ryan Nelson Series 3
Tom Matt Zarb Series 3
Carly Beaker Ruth Gemmell Movie
John Adam SKilton Series 5
Gary Geaorge McAllister Series 5

DVD Releases

The Story of Tracy Beaker has been released on DVD in the UK.

DVD Title No. of Disc(s) Year No. of Episodes DVD release
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
Tracy Beaker – Best of Me – Series One 1 2002 6 6 February 2006[1]
Tracy Beaker – More of Me – Series Two 1 2003 6 22 May 2006[2]
Tracy Beaker – Starring Me – Series Three 1 2004 6 2 October 2006[3]
Tracy Beaker – Totally Me – Series Four 1 2004 6 26 March 2007[4]
Tracy Beaker – Farewell from Me – Series Five 1 2005-2006 12 7 January 2008[5]
Tracy Beaker – The Boxset of Me (Also Includes Movie of Me) 6 2002-2006 60 (12 episodes per series) 11 February 2008[6]
Tracy Beaker – The Movie of Me 1 2004 N/A 25 July 2005[7]

Awards and nominations

Ceremony Award Nominee Result
2002 Children's BAFTA Awards Children's Drama The Story of Tracy Beaker Nominated
2003 Children's BAFTA Awards Children's Drama The Story of Tracy Beaker Nominated
2003 Children's BAFTA Awards Children's Writer Mary Morris Nominated
2004 Children's BAFTA Awards Children's Drama Tracy Beaker: The Movie of Me Nominated
2004 Children's BAFTA Awards Children's Writer – Adapted In Mary Morris Nominated
2004 Royal Television Awards Children's Award Tracy Beaker: The Movie of Me Won
2005 Children's BAFTA Awards Children's Drama The Story of Tracy Beaker Nominated

Ratings (CBBC Channel)

Series 1: 2002

Episode no. Total viewers CBBC weekly ranking
1
1
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
2
16
1
3
499,000
1
4
233,000
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
5
278,000
8
6
315,000
6
7
221,000
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
8
4,200
3
9
242,000
4
10
423,000
1
11
444,000
1
12
417,000
1
13
526,000
1
14
658,000
6
15
215,000
3
16
215
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
17
145,000
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
18
10,000
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
19
815,000
1
20
234,000
10
21
415,000
10
22
615,000
1
23
522,000
1
24
2,100,000
9
25
2,900,000
5
26
4,200,000
1

Series 2: 2003

Episode no. Total viewers CBBC weekly ranking
1
567,000
1
2
363,000
1
3
499,000
1
4
925,000
1
5
616,000
1
6
415,000
6
7
231,000
9
8
361,000
3
9
219,000
4
10
423,000
1
11
444,000
1
12
417,000
1
13
526,000
1
14
658,000
6
15
215,000
3
16
215,000
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
17
135,000
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
18
531
2
19
699,000
1
20
23,00
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
21
775,000
10
22
395,000
1
23
622,000
1
24
995,000
1
25
395,000
1
26
1.58 million
1

Series 3: 2004

Episode no. Total viewers CBBC weekly ranking
1
519,000
1
2
716,000
1
3
422,000
1
4
513,000
1
5
689,000
1
6
389,000
1
7
458,000
1
8
684,000
1
9
409,000
1
10
399,000
1
11
528,000
1
12
590,000
1
13
326,000
1
14
318,000
3
15
245,000
10
16
108,000
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
17
745,000
1
18
862,000
1
19
996,000
1
20
914,000
1
21
285,000
4
22
171,000
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
23
011,000
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
24
285,000
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
25
305,000
8
26
491,000
2

Series 4: 2005

Episode no. Total viewers CBBC weekly ranking
1
299,000
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
2
216,000
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
3
312,000
6
4
355,000
3
5
924,000
1
6
909,000
1
7
958,000
1
8
922,000
1
9
925,000
1
10
999,000
1
11
861,000
1
12
475,000
3
13
138,000
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
14
723,000
1
15
993,000
1
16
108,000
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
17
745,000
1
18
862,000
1
19
996,000
1
20
914,000
1
21
311,000
2
22
898,000
1

Series 5: 2006

Episode no. Total viewers CBBC weekly ranking
1
387,000
1
2
634,000
1
3
365,000
2
4
210,000
5
5
333,000
10
6
200,000
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
7
777,000
1
8
531,000
1
9
900,000
1
10
322,000
9
11
866,000
1
12
215,000
10
13
138,000
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A
14
989,000
1
15
993,000
1
16
972,000
1
17
956,000
1
18
905,000
1
19
990,000
1
20
999,000
1

References

  1. ↑ "Tracy Beaker – Best of Me Series 1 [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  2. ↑ "Tracy Beaker – More of Me [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  3. ↑ "Tracy Beaker – Starring Me [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  4. ↑ "Tracy Beaker – Totally Me – Series 4 [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  5. ↑ "Tracy Beaker – Farewell From Me [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  6. ↑ "Tracy Beaker – The Boxset of Me [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  7. ↑ "Tracy Beaker – The Movie of Me [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2011.

External links