The Story of Tracy Beaker (TV series)

*The Story of Tracy Beaker*
The Story of Tracy Beaker
	File:Tracy Beaker.png
Starring	Dani Harmer; Montanna Thompson; Lisa Coleman; Nisha Nayar
Opening theme	"Watcha Gonna Do/Someday" sung by Keisha White.
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	120 + 5 specials (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	15 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC One, CBBC
Release	8 July 2002 –; 5 February 2006

The Story of Tracy Beaker is a 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, entitled Tracy Beaker Parties with Pudsey, which were also crossovers with other shows from CBBC. The episodes themselves intersperse live action with cartoon sequences drawn by Nick Sharratt depicting Tracy's inner thoughts and, from series 3 onwards, the thoughts of other characters. Initially these cartoons would often be followed by a more realistic interpretation of what happened, but this was discontinued after the first series. The theme song was written and performed by Keisha White. In March 2009, the BBC announced that actress Dani Harmer would reprise the role of Tracy Beaker in a new series consisting of 13 episodes in which she would become a careworker at her former care home - this appears on TV as Tracy Beaker Returns.

Episodes

Cast

Kids

Character	Actor	Series	Information.
Tracy Beaker	Dani Harmer	1-6	Tracy Beaker is the main character of the series. She is a "Kid In Care" who is a tomboy with behaviour problems. In the first few series she often makes up lies about her mother to get other children's attention. In the later series, Cam Lawson and new husband Gary adopted Tracy. Tracy hated Gary at first but by the end of the series they were on good terms. In the new series "Tracy Beaker Returns" we find Gary and Cam divorced through out the break of the show. She is now currently a care-worker at the 'Dumping Ground' in the new series.
Justine Littlewood	Montanna Thompson	1-3, 5, (and a guest appearance in Series 4)	Justine Littlewood is Tracy Beaker's enemy. She has a crush on Crash. Justine has been in and out of the dumping ground many times because her cousin, John, has moved into the household but after a game of football and an allergy to nuts they became closer and Justine decided to move back in with her dad again. She is an angry, bad-tempered girl with attitude, who's best friends with Louise. She is not seen in Tracy Beaker Returns but is seen in spin-off series Dani's House.
Louise Goven	Chelsie Padley	1-3	Louise Goven was a good friend with Tracy before Justine moved to the dumping ground. When Justine first arrived, Tracy was living with a foster family which made Louise feel better about making a new best friend. Louise is a dramatic diva and got fostered at the end of series 2. She Appears in episode 3 of season 3 but not the rest of season. She didn't appear in any later series'.
Adele Azupadi	Rochelle Gadd	1-2	An older girl who eventually got too old to live in the dumping ground. After moving into a small bed-sit she realised she didn't like being alone so moved back to the Dumping Ground. She is sensible and kind but can get annoyed sometimes. In series 1 Tracy stole Adele's make-up to attract the attention of Cam.
Ryan	Sonny Muslim	1	The older twin of Zac. Ryan speaks in a cockney dialect and is interested in judo. Ryan doesn't usually take no for an answer.
Zac	Jay Haher	1	The younger twin of Ryan. Zac never got fostered during the series and didn't make any other appearances in later series'.
Peter Ingham	Joe Starrs	1	Peter is a weedy six-year-old who continually attempts to make friends with Tracy.He shares the same birthday as Tracy Beaker and was fostered near the end of series 1. He was best friends with Maxie.
Maxy	Jerome Holder	1	A cheeky boy who is friends with Peter and who likes making Duke make cakes so he can eat the cake mixture. It is unknown whether he was ever fostered.
Bradley "Bouncer" Plakova	Ben Hanson	2-5	A boy who lives in the Dumping Ground in series 2 . He is then a trainee chef. Bradley is the brother of Lol. He goes to a Half Way house at the end of series 4. He later returns to work as a chef in the Dumping ground. In series 3 he also works for a short time at a cake store. He is a nice caring person on the whole.
Laurence "Lol" Plakova	Ciaran Joyce	2-5	Lol is a wheeler dealer character who always has some kind of scam going.He is the brother of Bouncer and a friend of Crash.
Dolly	Chloe Hibbert-Waters	2-3	A small, cute and hyper girl who likes to be with Tracy . She sees Tracy as her hero. In series 3, she and her friends Hayley and Marco formed a Beaker club in honour of Tracy Beaker. In an episode in series 2, we learn that Dolly wants to be a bus driver when she grows up. She also loves dogs. She was fostered in the middle of series 3.
Amber Hurst	Alicia Hooper	2	Amber is an elder girl who has a bad attitude. She is a bad influence and considers herself a rebel and non conformist. Amber can be very spiteful but manages to get fostered on the same day as Louise.
Marco Maloney	Jack Edwards	3-5	A boy who likes to wear costumes and dress-up. He is best friend of Milly and gets fostered with Milly by the Boxer family.
Liam "Crash"	Darragh Mortell	3-5	Crash is a friend of Tracy and Jackie and has anger management problems (at one time throwing a chair through a window). He has a crush on Justine and has sporting rivalries with Michael (series 3) and Rio Wellard (series 4).He has a light sense of humour.
Jackie Hopper	Abby Rakic-Platt	3-5	Jackie is a friend of Tracy and Crash and is a trainee athlete. In her first episode, she is determined to get her grandpa out of his care home and cannot accept that he has Alzheimer's disease. Eventually, she ends up staying at the Dumping Ground even though she doesn't like it. At the end of series 4, her grandpa dies and she leaves to go to a sporting academy. In series 5, she returned to the Dumping Ground after an injury. It was later revealed that she was missing everyone and faked her injury so she could come home. During the final episode of series 5, she and Crash convinced Tracy to go to Cam and Gary's wedding.
Layla	Cara Readle	3-5	A girl with Cerebral Palsy.She is Best friends with Hayley.
Hayley	Kristal Lau	3-4	A quiet girl who befriends Layla. She gets Fostered in Season 4.
Michael Grys	William Tomlin	3	An unpopular snitch who everyone hates. He is a rival to Crash in Series 3.
Roxy Wellard	Sophie Borja	4-5	The youngest of the Wellard family, the enemies of everyone else in the Dumping Ground. She is the brains of the family. She gets annoyed when Rio mixes with the other kids and continues to cause trouble. Roxy is a stereo typical goth.
Rio Wellard	Craig Roberts	4-5	The middle child of the Wellard family. He is the strong one of the Wellards. He is a Rival of Crash in Series 4, but by the end, they are friends. He mixes with the other kids after Chantal leaves. In Roxy's opinion he is "turned into a right goody two shoes."
Chantal Wellard	Deepal Parmar	4-5	Eldest of the Wellard family. The glamorous child of the Wellards. At the beginning of series 5 she moves in with her dad.
Shawn "Wolfie"	Felix Drake	4-5	A boy with rich parents who likes to live roughly because he has a fear of being trapped. Wolfie has a dark sense of humour but has had a troubled past before the dumping ground. He got his nickname from Dumping Ground kids, who heard rumours that he was bought up in the wild by wolves. Wolfie thinks the rumour is funny, so he doesn't bother denying it. Wolfie can be sarcastic but he's never malicious. He can't sleep in a bed and hates being locked up.
Milly	Holly Gibbs	5	Milly likes to dress up, but is very shy and chooses to be a mute. She speaks only twice on screen in the whole of her stay at the Dumping Ground. Milly is best friends with Marco.
Rebecca Chalmers	Georgina Hagen	5	She is a rival to Justine and has a crush on Crash.
Alice	Olivia Grant	5	A young hippie girl who believes in fairies. She sees Roxy Wellard as her best friend and likes to see the good in everyone.

Careworkers

Character	Actor	Series	Biography
Elaine "the Pain" Boyak	Nisha Nayar	1-5	The resident social worker for the first 5 series'. Her calm and peaceful approach annoys all of the children and she often gets in the way of their lives although she ultimately cares about them and is trying to help them.
Norman "Duke" Ellington	Clive Rowe	1-4	The Dumping Ground's chef. In series 4 he retired to be with his family.
Mike Milligan	Connor Byrne	1, 5-6	Mike is the assistant care worker in series 1. He has a lovable character during the first series and is on good terms with Tracy, thinking she's a 'good kid on the whole'. He then leaves to be reincarnated as a Chef during series 5. Later he becomes head care worker and continues that role in Tracy Beaker Returns.
Jenny Ruth Edwards	Sharlene Whyte	1-2	A firm yet fair head care worker in series 1 and 2. She cannot stand Elaine, though she tries to hide this from the kids.
Nathan Jones	James Cartwright	2-3	He is trainee care worker in series 2 and a permanent member of staff from the end of series 2 to the end of series 3. It is not known what happened to him after that. He is not very professional, but gets on well with all the kids and is particularly fond of Dolly.
Shelley Appleton	Nicola Reynolds	3, 5	Head care worker in series 3 then acting head care worker in series 5. Has a cool, collected and confident attitude, but ultimately has a huge affection for all the kids. In series 3, it is mentioned that she first got interested in caring because she cared for her dad as a child, because he had Alzheimer's disease.
Sid Rooney	Vincenzo Pellegrino	4	Head care worker in series 4. A recurring joke about him is that he has no sense of humour.

Others

Character	Actor	Series	Biography
Cam Lawson	Lisa Coleman	1-6	A writer and Tracy's foster mother. She was often pestered by Tracy to foster her throughout series the first series, after much pleading Cam finally gave in and fostered Tracy at the end of the series.. At the beginning of Series 2, Cam sent Tracy back to the Dumping Ground after she had burned down Cam's kitchen. Cam then again fostered Tracy in series 4. In series 5, Cam had a boyfriend named Gary who Tracy did not like and so Tracy moved back into the Dumping ground. Cam and Gary got married at the end of series 5 and adopted Tracy.
Ben Batambuze	Luke Youngblood	1-2	Ben is a child with a rich background, he is friendly,outgoing and best friends with Tracy, however,he doesn't live in the Dumping Ground. At the start of Series 3 it was revealed that he left to go to boarding school, but he does appear in a photo halfway through the series. This is the last we hear of him.

Tracy Beaker Returns

Character	Actor	Series	Biography
Gina Conway	Kay Purcell	6	Gina is the deputy head care-worker in Tracy Beaker Returns. She is quite strict, but is very fond of the children and cares deeply about all of them. She and Tracy often argue.
Lily Kettle	Jessie Williams	6	A ten-year-old girl who is always looking after her younger sisters. She gets fostered with her sisters in episode 5, but returns to the Dumping Ground alone after she refused to let her foster parents take over the care of her sisters. In episode 12 she suggests that they pick up Poppy and Rosie to go to the beach ;this doesn't happen.
Poppy Kettle	Katie Anderson	6	Poppy is 4 and one of Lily's younger sisters. She gets fostered in episode 5. Poppy enjoys Lily's stories but rarely speaks. In episode 5 Carmen reveals that Poppy called her Auntie Carmen. Poppy starts crying after Lily told her she doesn't like Tuna in episode 8. Episode 8 is her last appearance. Her longest line is "Is Carmen in our story?".
Rosie Kettle	Claudia Colling	6	Rosie is 6 and Lily's other sister. She also gets fostered in episode 5. She rarely talks but enjoys Lily's storys. Episode 8 is her last appearance. Rosie is a minor who talks 5 times. her longest line is "Carmen is reading us a story" (along with Poppy). She has blonde hair.
Carmen Howle	Amy-Leigh Hickman	6	Carmen is 10 and Lily's best friend. She likes magic, fairies, pink clothes and reading aloud. She plans to move to Spain with her mum in episode 10, but changes her mind after her mum gets back with her abusive boyfriend. Carmen is devastated when Lily and her sisters get fostered in episode 5.
Liam O'Donavan	Richard Wisker	6	Liam is a 13-year-old troublemaker who is always out to make money, but secretly understands and cares about all the other kids and is one of the most mature kids in the Dumping Ground. He was fostered at the start of the series, but returned to the Dumping Ground in episode 2 after he blew up his foster parent's bed with a fizzy drink.
Frank Matthews	Chris Slater	6	Liam's 14-year-old best friend and sidekick, who has Cerebral Palsey.
Gus Carmichael	Noah Marullo	6	A 9-year-old boy with Asperger's Syndrome. Gus remembers everything he sees, and writes it all in his notebook, which is full of people's secrets. He enjoys playing the piano and in episode 8 was accepted into an orchestra.
Sapphire Fox	Saffron Coomber	6	A 14 year old older girl who can't wait to leave. Sapphire seems to hate the other kids, but at the same time often stands up for them. In episode 7, she dumps her boyfriend after he frames her for shoplifting. In episode 11, her brother Riff turns up, having run away from home because he is about to be taken into care. She initially hides him, but with Tracy's help, he finds the courage to go back home.
Toby Coleman	John Bell	6	Toby is an 11-year-old boy who is obsessed with illness, disease and comics. He is in care after his parents died in a car crash, and has since believed that he is the cause of bad luck. He almost got fostered in episode 3, but decided he didn't want to.
Johnny Taylor	Joe Maw	6	Johnny is an 11 year old volatile boy who is obsessed with cleaning and trying to get him and his sister fostered (his obsession stems from the abuse he received at home.) He gets angry easily and is over caring and often controlling with his sister.
Tee Taylor	Mia McKenna Bruce	6	Tee is 9 and Johnny's younger sister. She is fiercely loyal to her brother, but sometimes tries to be independent. In episode 4 she tries to be like Tracy but this results in her falling out of a tree. Towards the end of the series she is close to Carmen and Lily.
Harry	Philip Graham Scott	6	Harry is 6 and the youngest child at the DG (after Rosie and Poppy leave). Harry's closest friend is a toy giraffe called Jeff. He is obsessed with Sapphire and treats her like a sister. Harry often gives away secrets.

External links

The Story of Tracy Beaker at IMDb