| The Story of Tracy Beaker (franchise) | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Jacqueline Wilson |
| Owner | BBC |
| Print publications | |
| Book(s) |
|
| Magazine(s) | Totally Tracy Beaker The Story of Tracy Beaker: The DVD Collection |
| Films and television | |
| Television series |
|
| Television special(s) | Tracy Beaker Parties with Pudsey (2004) Children's Party at the Palace (2006) |
| Television film(s) | Tracy Beaker: The Movie of Me (2004) |
| Theatrical presentations | |
| Musical(s) | Tracy Beaker Gets Real |
| Official website | |
The Story of Tracy Beaker is a long running, award winning British children's media franchise that began with The Story of Tracy Beaker first published on 14 February 1991. Since then the book has spawned five sequels and inspired a television franchise of which consists of nearly 400 episodes of the course of over twenty years and 5 shows including: The Story of Tracy Beaker, Tracy Beaker Returns and The Dumping Ground. The franchise explores the challenges faced by the residents of "the DG" as it is referred to by the residents and their numerous care/social workers, their relationships with their families and each other and how they overcome those challenges. Some of the topics covered in the franchise include abandonment, neglect, abuse, relationships, growing up, bullying, change, loss, racism, homelessness, runaways etc. With characters such as Jody Jackson (Kia Pegg), Elektra (Jessica Revell), Mike Milligan (Connor Bryne), Alex Walker (Connor Lawson) and Tracy Beaker herself (portrayed by Dani Harmer) among many others becoming fan favourites and main stays in the ongoing narrative. Residents continue to mention older ones and pass down items from generation to generation, keeping the shows connected and maintaining the extensive lore of the franchise while also finding new ways to evolve and explore new storylines within and outside of the care system. The franchise is also recognisable as having produced award winning actors and actresses such as Amy Leigh-Hickman (who portrayed Carmen) and Mia McKenna-Bruce (who portrayed Tee) among others.
Story of Tracy Beaker merchandise has also been released. [1] [2]
The Story of Tracy Beaker franchise currently has seven books. The books are The Story of Tracy Beaker , The Dare Game (reissued in 2018 as I Dare You, Tracy Beaker), Starring Tracy Beaker, My Mum Tracy Beaker, We Are The Beaker Girls, Tracy Beaker's Thumping Heart and Ask Tracy Beaker and Friends. [3] [4]
The Story of Tracy Beaker also had two magazine collections. Totally Tracy Beaker came with free art and craft supplies, which the reader collected, and the second magazine released, The Story of Tracy Beaker: The DVD collection, came with a DVD with episodes from the series and the reader would eventually have all five series. [5]
| Series | Season | Episodes | Originally released | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | Network | ||||
| The Story of Tracy Beaker | 1 | 26 | 8 January 2002 | 4 April 2002 | CBBC | |
| 2 | 26 | 7 January 2003 | 3 April 2003 | |||
| 3 | 26 | 25 September 2003 | 1 April 2004 | |||
| TV Film | 21 February 2004 | |||||
| 4 | 22 | 7 October 2004 | 5 April 2005 | |||
| 5 | 20 | 28 November 2005 | 9 December 2005 | |||
| Tracy Beaker Returns | 1 | 13 | 8 January 2010 | 26 March 2010 | ||
| 2 | 13 | 7 January 2011 | 25 March 2011 | |||
| 3 | 13 | 6 January 2012 | 23 March 2012 | |||
| The Dumping Ground | 1 | 13 | 4 January 2013 | 15 March 2013 | ||
| 2 | 13 | 10 January 2014 | 28 March 2014 | |||
| 3 | 20 | 10 | 16 January 2015 | 13 March 2015 | ||
| 10 | 6 October 2015 | 8 December 2015 | ||||
| 4 | 20 | 10 | 29 January 2016 | 25 March 2016 | ||
| 10 | 30 September 2016 | 2 December 2016 | ||||
| 5 | 22 | 12 | 20 January 2017 | 31 March 2017 | ||
| 10 | 13 October 2017 | 15 December 2017 | ||||
| 6 | 24 | 12 | 12 January 2018 | 30 March 2018 | ||
| 12 | 21 September 2018 | 7 December 2018 | ||||
| 7 | 24 | 12 | 4 January 2019 | 15 March 2019 | ||
| 12 | 27 September 2019 | 6 December 2019 | ||||
| 8 | 24 | 12 | 10 January 2020 | 27 March 2020 | ||
| 12 | 25 September 2020 | 5 February 2021 | ||||
| 9 | 20 | 10 | 11 June 2021 | 13 August 2021 | ||
| 10 | 21 January 2022 | 25 March 2022 | ||||
| 10 | 20 | 10 | 30 September 2022 | 2 December 2022 | ||
| 10 | 21 April 2023 | 23 June 2023 | ||||
| 11 | 10 | 26 January 2024 | 22 March 2024 | |||
| 12 | 8 | 18 October 2024 | 6 December 2024 | |||
| 13 | 10 | 17 January 2025 | 21 March 2025 | |||
| My Mum Tracy Beaker | 1 | 3 | 12 February 2021 | 14 February 2021 | ||
| The Beaker Girls | 1 | 5 | 13 December 2021 | 17 December 2021 | ||
| 2 | 12 | 13 January 2023 | 31 March 2023 | |||
The BBC adapted the book for television and The Story of Tracy Beaker ran for five series on CBBC from 8 January 2002 to 9 December 2005, featuring Dani Harmer as Tracy Beaker. [6] In 2009, a sequel series to The Story of Tracy Beaker was announced, titled Beaker's Back but eventually retitled Tracy Beaker Returns . This series aired on CBBC for three series, from 8 January 2010 to 23 March 2012. [7] [8] [9] [10] In 2012, a spin-off series titled The Dumping Ground was announced, but without Harmer, as the latter chose to quit her role as Tracy. The Dumping Ground has aired on CBBC since 4 January 2013 and is still ongoing; it is currently in its thirteenth series. [11] [12]
On 21 February 2004, Tracy Beaker: The Movie of Me aired on CBBC. For Children In Need that year, a The Story of Tracy Beaker special aired on CBBC titled Tracy Beaker Parties With Pudsey. [13] Tracy Beaker Returns aired one spin-off, Tracy Beaker Survival Files , which aired for one series from 16 December 2011 to 6 January 2012. [14] The Dumping Ground currently has had five spin-off's: The Dumping Ground Survival Files aired for two series from 6 January to 12 December 2014, [15] a webisode miniseries Liam's Story aired from 17 January to 14 March 2018 and the series aired as a full episode on CBBC on 23 March 2014, [16] a five-part miniseries called The Dumping Ground Dish Up aired in November 2015, [17] The Dumping Ground: I'm... , another webisode series where young people and staff describe living and working in care, aired for two series from 25 January 2016 to 9 February 2017. [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] A five-part mini webisode series, Sasha's Contact Meetings , was released on 6 April 2018. [28]
In 2006, The Story of Tracy Beaker was adapted into a musical, featuring Sarah Churm as Tracy Beaker. [29] [30] [31] Suzie McGrath played Justine Littlewood, Jessica Martin played Tracy's mum and Louise, Alice Redmond played Tracy's foster mother Cam, Gemma Page played social worker Elaine, and Andy Steed played Peter. [30]