All Seasons

Season 1

  • S01E01 Tracy Beaker Returns To The Dumping Ground

    • January 8, 2002
    • BBC One

    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...

  • S01E01 Dares

    • January 10, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E02 Sneaking in Ben

    • January 15, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E02 Cam's First Visit

    • January 17, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E03 The Truth is Revealed

    • January 24, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E03 Child of the Week

    • January 22, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E04 Never Ever Wanna See Him Again

    • January 29, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E04 The 1000 Words About Tracy

    • January 31, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E05 Bad Peter

    • February 5, 2002
    • BBC One

    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. However, they like the look of Peter. Tracy overhears Jenny and Mike telling Elaine that Peter would probably be much better suited with the Browns, and is cross with Peter for ruining her chances. When Peter tells Tracy that he isn't ready to be fostered yet, she persuades him to be bad to put the Browns off. Peter starts pulling some of Tracy's antics, but when he shouts, 'I'm badder than Tracy Beaker!' Jenny realises what has happened. Tracy screams at Peter, but when she insults his nan, his antics continue. Terry and Jill return in the middle of the chaos, but leave when they see how Peter is behaving. In a rage, Peter throws Tracy's photo of her mum out of the window, which Terry catches as he leaves the house. Tracy tells Terry and Jill that she told Peter to be bad, but he is rubbish at it – as she knew he would be, as he is her best friend.

  • S01E05 Cam's Place

    • February 7, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E06 Justine's TV

    • February 14, 2002
    • BBC One

    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. However, the other children are reluctant to join in, as Justine is letting them watch her TV. Justine becomes more and more power-hungry, charging everyone to watch the TV and deliberately taking multiple bookings, so she can offer the service to the highest bidder and get more money. After this, the other children are happy to join Tracy's campaign. Later, Justine accidentally breaks the television and Tracy wonders why she is so upset. Justine explains that her dad has gone to work up North, and has given her the TV as a goodbye present. Tracy changes her campaign to demand that Justine gets a new television, but when Jenny points out that Tracy is actually a softie, Tracy explains that she can't get Elaine sacked unless Justine has a TV to get her sacked over.

  • S01E06 Dumping Ground Virus

    • February 12, 2002
    • BBC One

    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...

  • S01E07 Tracy and Cam Row

    • February 19, 2002
    • BBC One

    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 chocolate. When Cam gets home, she is furious and takes Tracy back. Tracy later apologises for breaking into her flat, and Cam says that she is still considering fostering her. Meanwhile, Justine and Louise persuade Jenny to let them wash her car, for £5. Jenny agrees, only to the outrage of Zac and Ryan, who had the same idea. In revenge, Ryan and Zac jam the outdoor water tap and then when Justine and Louise try to turn it off, Maxy smears the car in more dirt. When Cam arrives, Justine and Louise offer to clean her car as well, but Cam refuses as she hates having a clean car. In revenge, Justine and Louise persuade Ryan and Zac to wash Cam's car. They wash the car, and are furious when Cam doesn't pay them, causing all of them (and Tracy) to get into a soaking match.

  • S01E07 Sleepover

    • February 21, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E08 Parent's Evening

    • February 26, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E08 The Postcard

    • February 28, 2002
    • BBC One

    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?

  • S01E09 Where's the Work

    • March 7, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E09 Helpful Tracy

    • March 5, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E10 New Girl

    • March 12, 2002
    • BBC One

    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 Dumping Ground.

  • S01E10 Treasure Hunt

    • March 14, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E11 Romance

    • March 19, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E11 Temporary Care Worker

    • March 21, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E12 Cut the Weed

    • March 26, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E12 Need Armbands

    • March 28, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E13 Miss You

    • April 2, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.

  • S01E13 The End!

    • April 4, 2002
    • BBC One

    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.