Tracy Beaker Returns

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Tracy Beaker Returns (2010-2012) is the sequel to The Story of Tracy Beaker. Tracy borrows Cam's credit card and uses a few thousand pounds to publish an autobiography/survival guide. Tracy works at the Dumping Ground to pay back the money, and stays on given a chance to leave.

Currently has 26 episodes, with a further 13 episodes comissioned for 2012. The episodes have appeared - Toby has been fostered, Sapphire has finally moved out, and Lily's relationship with her dad is stable. To make up for this, four new kids from the Burnywood fire move in - lonely girl Kitty, seductress Lizanne, prank-lover Tyler, and Rick. Their social worker Denis also comes to Elmtree.

Dani Harmer has been confirmed to leave the show, with the last episode having aired. The year after we will get The Dumping Ground, affectionately referred to as "Tracy Minus Tracy".

Tropes used in Tracy Beaker Returns include:
  • Backstory: Tracy Beaker Returns - Lily's dad from The Scare Game, Gus's dad from Secrets, Frank's grandad from Grandad and Money, Elektra's gang from Snake Bite and real family from Going Home, Carmen's mum from Viva Carmen, Tee's and Johnny's stepdad from By The Book, Sapphire's brother from The Werewolf, Toby's parents from Bad Luck Boy, and Liam's brother from Big Brother, Jody's abuse from Jody Jackson, Tyler being paranoid of his incredibly religious mother from Reward, and Harry's forgotten his by Eggs.
  • Cerebus Syndrome: Tracy Beaker Superstar has Tracy being arrested. The Burnywood Menace has Lily almost dying. Slow Burn/The Visitors has two fires in one day and some new kids with major problems, with lots of screaming and an insensitive social worker.
    • Discussed with Gus and his "Falling List".
  • Chekhov's Gun: Grandad is full of it.
    • The mention that Cam might foster - she fosters Lily two episodes later. And all the kids being moved to Burnywood at the Series 2 opener - Series 3 reverses this with Burnywood kids being moved to Elmtree.
  • Continuity Nod: In the original episode Time Capsule, a time capsule is buried. In new series episode Shadows, it's dug up.
    • Justine Littlewood Returns has a Call Back to Jenny's clothes being stolen. Of course Jenny's name isn't mentioned, Gina's standing right there. And eating a worm.
  • Deconstruction: Denis deconstructs two ideas: An unsensitive careworker who doesn't care about someone with Aspergers Syndrome, and someone who has an incredibly precious item with the idea of leaving all your things behind in a fire. When the two ideas cross, Gus almost dies.[1]
  • Expy: Quite a lot of characters to the original series.
    • Tracy to Nathan. (A young sometimes irresponsible worker that's often the butt of jokes)
    • Johnny and Tee to Lol and Bouncer. (pair of siblings with fostering problems)
    • Liam to Tracy herself. (scammer and head of the Dumping Ground)
    • Johnny alone to Crash. (temper problems)
    • Gus to Marco. (lonely boy with implied autism)
    • Harry to Maxie. (young boy with connection to...
    • Sapphire to Adelle. (wants to move into a flat, considers herself more mature than the other kids)
    • Elektra to Amber. (trouble with a gang, stirs up trouble)
    • The Kettles to the Wellards. (Sisters with massive problems regarding separate fostering)
    • Gina to Jenny. (foreign Distaff Counterpart to Mike)
    • Gina to Duke. (large friendly care-worker to act as a vaguely responsible adult)
    • Frank to Jackie. (grandad trouble, touching episode regarding said Grandad's death)
  • He Who Fights Monsters: Tracy becomes a careworker. But she's still a rulebreaker.
  • Loads and Loads of Characters: Averted.
  • Put on a Bus: Downplayed - the first shows rotated kids a lot, but only 2 kids have permanently left in the new show.
  • Sixth Ranger: Elektra.
  • Toilet Humour: There's a massive fart in Money. It's never stated who did it though.
    • Out 160 episodes of the show (including the original and The Movie) currently aired, only four episodes have this - a dog poo in the old series, plastic poo in Slow Burn and the real poo in Drained.
  1. And he'd be the first since Jack Hopper from The Finishing Line.