The Story of Tracy Beaker Season 1, Episode 18: Helpful Tracy

1

Tracy's Return

As the above episode title would suggest, our eponymous heroine is not in the best of moods as she comes back from (presumably we include the word 'yet') another failed fostering attempt – and she is being very loud indeed, much to the dismay of everyone who has ever been involved in trying to match her wayward and yet surprisingly endearing personality with suitable guardians so far...

15 min

2

Dares

Strange noises fill the Dumping Ground in the middle of the night. Jenny investigates, but it turns out to be Tracy, who is looking through the files for her mum's (Annette Bentley) address. Jenny and social worker Elaine explain to Tracy that her mum knows where she is, but they can't give her mum's address. Soon after, Tracy and Justine compete in a game of dares to win back Tracy's room. Justine covers Jenny in flour, Tracy fills Mike's boots with cheese sauce, Justine steals Jenny's clothes while she is having a shower, and Tracy tries to climb a tree, but Mike climbs after her and pulls her down. Tracy dares Justine to put a worm down her trousers – which she does – but Justine tells Tracy to eat a worm. Tracy hates the idea, but does it, and throws it up later. Justine quits the competition and says Tracy can have her room back. However, after Justine has packed all her stuff, Tracy tells her she can keep the room as she likes her new room better, infuriating Justine.

15 min

3

Sneaking In Ben

Louise is still struggling to choose between Justine and Tracy. Tracy is fed up with waiting for Louise, and stays out too long, missing out on doing her chore. While out, Tracy meets Ben again wants to show him the Dumping Ground, but Jenny says no, as she is angry that Tracy missed doing her chore. Tracy sneaks Ben in anyway, but Justine and Louise spot him. Justine snitches to Jenny, although Louise begs her not to. When Jenny searches Tracy's room, she finds only Louise, who swears that there is no one else there. However, just before Jenny leaves, she hears Ben's mobile phone, and discovers him hiding in the wardrobe. Meanwhile, chef Duke is having problems with rats in his kitchen. Jenny instructs him to get rid of them in a humane manner. Duke catches a rat and is about to kill it, but Ryan and Zac persuade him to let it go.

15 min

4

Cam's First Visit

There is much activity in the Dumping Ground. They are expecting a visitor – writer Cam Lawson, who is writing an article about the care home. Tracy is especially excited, as she wants to be a writer. She even steals older girl Adele's makeup to try to impress Cam. When Cam arrives, she is surprisingly unglamorous, but Tracy is still excited to meet her. However, Justine ruins it by making fun of Tracy's life book in front of Cam, prompting the two to get into a fight and Tracy to be sent to her room. Before Cam leaves, she goes to Tracy's room to make up with her, but Tracy is furious and makes her leave. When Tracy discovers that Cam has left her a fairy cake, she thanks Cam out of her window just as she is leaving, and realises that Cam likes her. Meanwhile, Mike is stressed about Cam's visit and asks for Adele's help to get the house ready. He offers her many things, but Adele will not budge until he agrees to give her an extra late pass for that week. She eventually complies, only to discover that Mike has finished it all.

15 min

5

Child of the Week

Elaine tells Tracy that she will be advertised as Child of the Week to potential foster parents in the local paper. Tracy is delighted and tells everyone. Elaine is then offered more space in the newspaper, so decides to advertise Louise as well. Tracy is initially upset, but she and Louise eventually bond over it. They agree that they should not smile, but look sad to still be in the care home and attract more foster parents that way. However, Justine and photographer Brian convince Louise to smile. Tracy is furious, but Ben persuades her that she would be doing herself more favours to smile, so Tracy remakes both her own and Louise's adverts and sneaks them into the office. Her own advert is now extremely flattering and asks expressly for very rich foster parents, and Louise's photo now has a bag over Louise's head. Meanwhile, Duke decides to start a new healthy food regime, and makes battered courgettes. The kids convince him that they like them, while secretly flushing them down the toilet.

15 min

6

The Truth Is Revealed

Justine's dad has given her money to decorate her bedroom. Tracy wants to do the same and is very angry when she is not allowed. She storms out of the house to meet Ben, who shows her his treehouse in the woods. Later, Ben accidentally falls down the tree, and Tracy runs to get Mike to help. Ben gets Mike to take him home, but Tracy is furious when she discovers he's not a 'street kid' as he had told her, but lives in a very grand house with his mum. Meanwhile, the rest of the house help Justine with her bedroom, much to the annoyance of Adele, who has a school project to complete and is distracted by the noise. The project turns into a fiasco as Justine gets increasingly more demanding, making poor decisions and blaming everyone else. Eventually, everyone stops. However, Adele's project turns out to be about designing a room, and she finishes it off for her.

15 min

7

Never Ever Wanna See Him again

It's Tracy's birthday, but unfortunately for her, it's also younger boy Peter's birthday. He's extremely excited, but Tracy is doing her best to appear cynical and detached. Justine laughs at Tracy's hopes to get something from her mum, but the smile is wiped off her face when a card arrives in the post for Tracy. Mike notices that the card from Tracy's mum is written in brown felt pen and realises that Peter left the card. However, it fooled Justine and Louise, and Tracy says it is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for her. The party still goes wrong when Duke accidentally destroys Tracy's birthday cake and the sound system goes wrong. Tracy sulks in her room. Adele lures her downstairs and reveals that Ben has provided a new sound system. Tracy and Ben make friends again.

15 min

8

1000 Words About Tracy

Cam makes a return visit to the home to interview Tracy for her article. As Tracy and Cam talk, Tracy tries to talk Cam into looking for her mum for her. Cam agrees, and is furious with herself when Jenny tells her that Tracy's mum already knows where she is, and doesn't want to get in touch. Tracy is upset and angry, but later forgives Cam, and they agree to meet up again. Meanwhile, Cam asks Justine and Louise to make a docu-soap about life in the home. They start to make one, until Ryan points out that they could make a more interesting film and make money with it. They set up a situation with excitable Maxy, who slips in the kitchen and pulls lots of things down on him, while Justine films. The staff are furious, but the kids are elated to have made a funny film – until they realise that Justine forgot to turn the camera on. Zac discovers that they still have entertaining footage of Justine falling over when they were making the docu-soap.

15 min

9

Bad Peter

Tracy is excitedly waiting to be taken out for the day. However, when Tracy sees who's going to be taking her out – Terry and Jill Brown – she's horrified to see they are old. On the other hand, Peter likes the look of them. The day out doesn't go well, as Tracy is too lively for Terry and Jill to cope with. But a vengeful Tracy persuades Peter to become bad so that the Browns will not foster him, bringing chaos to the DG and completely shattering her friendship with Peter.

15 min

10

Cam's Place

It's a busy Saturday at the Dumping Ground: Tracy is going out with Cam, Louise with an aunt, Justine is waiting for her dad and the boys are waiting for a football match to start.

15 min

11

Dumping Ground Virus

Tracy is ill. It soon spreads around the Dumping Ground, incapacitating everyone but Adele and Justine, the latter of whom is trying her best to get the virus so she can avoid seeing the dentist. When Maxy picks up the phone to Elaine, he lets slip that everyone is ill, and she comes along to help, inadvertently making the situation much worse. Tracy and the others try to make out that Elaine has the virus to get rid of her, but it doesn't work, so Tracy has to think of another plan. When Adele mentions to Tracy that Elaine told her that another care home is also ill, Tracy gets Maxy to tell Elaine that the other home needs her. Elaine reluctantly leaves, and when Tracy announces this to the house, everyone appears to suddenly be better...

15 min

12

Justine's TV

Tracy has been made editor of the Dumping Ground newsletter, and is determined to find an exciting story. When she learns that Elaine has given Justine permission to have a television in her room, even though it is against the house rules, she starts a campaign to get Elaine sacked. Meanwhile, the kids begin paying Justine to allow them to watch her TV at night, but chaos occurs when she finds out that she is double booked by Adele and the boys.

15 min

13

Tracy and Cam Row

Tracy is becoming increasingly frustrated with Cam, who has still not decided whether or not to foster her. Banned from phoning her, Tracy enlists Ben's help to go to see Cam in person. When they arrive at her flat, Cam is out, so Tracy and Ben rearrange the furniture, play music and eat her food. Meanwhile, Justine and Louise go head-to-head with Zac and Ryan when they begin washing cars for money, leading to a big waterfight outside the DG.

15 min

14

Sleepover

The girls have been invited to a sleepover, but the rules of the care home don't allow them to go. The three of them unite in their determination to go anyway. Meanwhile, the boys are camping outside in the back garden.

15 min

15

Parent's Evening

It's Tracy's parents' evening and she has to put up with Elaine the Pain seeing her teacher. Elaine is worried about Tracy's schooling and is expecting a bad report – if she gets to see Tracy's teacher that is. Meanwhile, Peter has trouble with a bully and the boys and Ben pitch in to change his clothing style.

15 min

16

The Postcard

Justine is giving her dad a hard time for not visiting when he said he would. He said he left a message – and he did. Tracy took the message, but just forgot to pass it on. Meanwhile, a postcard arrives to the DG addressed to Tracy – from her mother. Is it genuine?

15 min

17

Where's The Work

Tracy will not hand in her homework. She claims a dog ran off with her book, but not even Elaine the Pain will fall for that one. She insists that Tracy is lying to cover up for not doing the homework.

15 min

18

Helpful Tracy

Tracy is worried that her behavioural problems are what's putting Cam off fostering her. She proclaims that she will become the nicest, kindest, most helpful person around. Meanwhile, it's Maxy's clothing allowance day and it nearly ends in disaster when Maxy locks Jenny's minivan keys and then Mike's car keys in the van, all over a pair of trainers that Jenny liked but Maxy didn't.

15 min

19

New Girl

Samantha is an eleven-year-old girl whose life is dominated by her mother. When her mother is rushed to hospital, Samantha must stay at the DG, where she strikes up a close bond with Tracy. Meanwhile there is a headlice epidemic in the house.

15 min

20

Treasure Hunt

Elaine has decided the best way to get everybody together will be a Treasure Hunt. They will learn all about friendship and teamwork. Naturally, it is doomed.

15 min

21

Romance

Tracy wants Elaine to hurry up Cam towards fostering. Elaine explains that fostering would be a busy step for a busy single woman. Tracy immediately sees a solution: find Cam a man and they can get married. She seems to like Mike, so he'll do. Meanwhile, in the Dumping Ground, the tables are turned on Jenny and Duke when Justine and Louise respectively fill in for their positions following a row over Louise using Justine's make-up.

15 min

22

Temporary Care Worker

It's clothing allowance day. Tracy has been saving up and wants Jenny to take her out to get a whole new wardrobe. What she gets is Leah, a temporary care worker who's filling in while Jenny's in hospital following an operation to remove an ingrowing toenail.

15 min

23

Cut the Weed

It's Peter's last day at the Dumping Ground before he goes to live with Terry and Jill. Everyone attends his party, except Tracy, who is secretly looking after two giant African land snails for the weekend. Later that night, it's full moon, and Zac has hung up garlic all over his and Ryan's bedroom so as to scare off vampires. And the snails escape from their cage. So, soon enough, everyone is creeping about all over the DG.

15 min

24

Need Armbands

Tracy has had enough of waiting for Cam. They were supposed to go swimming, only for Cam to stand her up. Tracy visits Ben and realises his parents would be perfect for her.

15 min

25

Miss You

The video recorder is broken. The kids decide to have a sale and buy a DVD player, but the items they want to sell don't amount too much, so it's a perfect opportunity to clean out the loft. The mood for selling is shattered however when Mike announces that he is leaving the Dumping Ground to go to another care home.

15 min

26

The End!

Cam has to buy a new flat. When Tracy finds out, she's desperate to help make sure there will be a good bedroom for her. Cam still won't agree to fostering Tracy and the two get into a huge row. Eventually the row is resolved and Cam asks Tracy to move in with her. Tracy agrees, packs straight away and has a lovely goodbye from all the staff and children.

15 min