Connor Macgregor Reviews...Children's Television

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Most people these days tend to watch Television in some form or another. When we’re children in particular, Television is basically our religion, our teacher, our best friend. From infancy, we were taught imagination and reality, and access to basic ideas of our society. Which is why, I thought it’d be fun to begin reviewing Children’s television wherever I can find it. It’s such a fun idea to compare children’s programming today and see if it holds up in some form or another.

As per the rules so far, I will stick to fictional series and am willing to review anything.

And to start off, it will be none other than a unique British television franchise that is still going to this day…






Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x01 - Tracy Returns To The Dumping Ground


INTRO: We start with Tracy Beaker, argueably a British children's insitution. Widely known by people raised in the 90s, 2000s and 2010s, this is a series that depicts kids in care, yet with a more lighter touch and sense of fun and silliness, though serious moments do come there and then. So let us start with the first episode.

SUMMARY:
WARNING: "Spoilers" spoilers below
A young girl named Tracy is returned to her former care home Stowey House after a failed fostering. She is greeted by Jenny (the head care worker) while insulting her former foster parents. The rest of the home's kids and care workers are made aware of her return and Mike (one of the care workers) tells Tracy that her old room has been taken by a new girl and takes her to a new room. Meanwhile, Louise (Tracy's best friend at the home) is with Justine (the new girl and Louise's new best friend) and isn't caring much about it since Tracy never came to see her. Tracy soon enters Justine's room and looks through her stuff, while breaking her clock in the process.

Tracy is able to quickly get out of Justine's room, while also meeting Louise again and officially meeting Justine (to whom Tracy states that she left her previous foster home because they treated her badly and tried to bribe her to stay). Justine and Louise soon enter Justine's room and find her broken clock, which they tell Mike about. While Justine gets Zac and Ryan (two of the other kids) to fix her clock, Mike attempts a search for Tracy and finds that she's gone out. While on the streets, Tracy meets a homeless boy named Ben who offers her some chocolates. Mike soon finds Tracy and returns her, while she gets told off by Jenny for what she did and made to apologise to Justine. However, Tracy doesn't apologise properly and is made to do so later.

Justine soon leaves to go out with her Dad, so Louise comes to see Tracy. After Tracy states that Louise is bored without Justine, Louise accuses Tracy of not being as clever as she thinks that she is and that she isn't kind (which is why she gets returned so much). After Louise accuses Tracy of being a liar, Tracy ends up fighting with her until Mike breaks it up and sends Louise to her room and Tracy to the quiet room until he lets her out for tea. After Tracy sees Justine with her Dad, she gets onto the roof of Jenny's car with a megaphone and apologises to Justine. Although Jenny is annoyed at this, Mike happily states that Tracy is officially back.


THOUGHTS: The episode ultimately sets up everything necessary to the Tracy Beaker story. The Dumping Ground, the residents in care, the staff, and ultimately the overall attitude of the series of untamed anger and frustration of not being normal. Tracy’s return is an absolute whirlwind, literally the opening scene is her angry and volatile having to return to the dumping ground so soon. From there, the key characters and long running stories are introduced such as the conflict with care workers, introducing the new friendship with Ben, as well as the long running bitter feud with Justine Littlewood, the new girl that took Tracy’s old room and took on Louise as her best friend. We’re also introduced to the various tantrums Tracy enacts, as well as the fantasies and exaggerations that she conducts throughout the series. Her first scene with Ben is nice, though it does begin with so many blatant lies, which get unravelled later on in the story. The care workers depicted here are very good, neither too strict or relaxed. The type of responsible caring adults who both care about the kids they look after, though also recognise that this is a job and a job that needs to be done well. Lastly is how half decent the acting is from the child actors in this series. It’s one of the rare cases where the acting works and isn’t awkward or just plain bad.

RATING: 73% - B+





Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x02 - Dares


INTRO: Dares is a significant often referenced episode throughout the Tracy Beaker franchise. It establishes the Tracy/Justine feud for real, and solidifies the potential fun in what the Tracy Beaker series can do.

SUMMARY: Tracy Challenges her new rival, Justine Littlewood, to a contest to find out which of them is the most daring. Who will be the champion?

THOUGHTS: This is a very fun eventful episode, in fact a lot more fun than I remember. This is an episode/event that is massively referenced throughout the franchise on multiple occasions and even re-enacted later on down the line. Tracy & Justine ultimately go head to head in a dares competition for the room both occupied by Tracy & Justine. It’s a very fun competition with a slightly intense conclusion towards it, and truly challenges both Tracy & Justine on their basic childlike fears. With that, the dumping ground becomes somewhat of a warzone, with various parts of the house booby-trapped, especially the kitchen. On a minor note, Elaine ‘The Pain’ makes her first appearance, even if it is a minor one. But trust me, she’ll begin to live up to that title in due course.

RATING: 93% - A





Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x03 - Sneaking In Ben


INTRO: Sneaking in Ben takes the friendship of Tracy & Ben the next stage. Following their interaction in episode one, Tracy made a new friend that felt very much a fresh canvas for Tracy to lie to. Someone new to spin her exaggerations or flat out fantasies to. But now, the truth will be forced on her.

SUMMARY:
WARNING: "Spoilers" spoilers below
On the way home from school with Justine and Louise, Tracy decides to stay in the park when the others return to the Dumping ground. Another encounter with Ben leads to Tracy wanting to take him to see where she lives. But Tracy is forced to hide Ben when Jenny refuses to allow Tracy to have any guests because of her lateness. She has to sneak him into her room, before leaving to get food. As she gets caught in the process, Tracy must try and get back to her room before Ben's found. Unfortunately, Justine gives the game away and Ben is at risk of being caught. Louise has to try and save Tracy. Meanwhile, Ryan, Zac and Duke have to try and deal with a mouse lose in the kitchen. They try mouse traps, but Jenny quickly shuts that idea down. Ryan and Zac actually catch it at last; Duke is very happy about this and wants to flatten it with a mallet, but Ryan and Zac strongly resent this idea and guilt trip Duke into just letting it go free instead.


THOUGHTS: Sneaking In Ben continues to build upon the Tracy & Ben friendship from the first episode, with Ben finally being exposed to Tracy’s real life situation in the care home. With that, Tracy sneaks Ben into the care home after Jenny refuses to have guests in. This allows us some fun little exchanges of dialogue with Jenny & Tracy in which Jenny plays along with Tracy’s exaggerations and wild imagination in order to divert away from Ben’s appearance. With that, we now have a more villainous Justine Littlewood in this episode, eager to snitch and be more unpleasant than she has in the first two episodes. In addition, we have a subplot with Duke, Zac & Ryan regarding a mouse who has been eating various food in the dumping ground kitchen. It’s nice to finally move away from Tracy for a bit and focus more on other characters within the home. Sadly, the subplot just isn’t that funny and just sort of lies there in a bid to have time in the episode. Though out of that subplot, Duke is expressed as a more fun and jolly presence on screen and would be key to how more fun loving he will be throughout the series.

RATING: 71% - B+





Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x04 - Cam's First Visit


INTRO: This episode introduces a significant and important character in the entire Tracy Beaker franchise. A woman who will be Tracy's anchor and emotional support for such a long time, and one who will be a major influence for Tracy going forward.

SUMMARY:
WARNING: "Spoilers" spoilers below
Writer Cam Lawson visits the Dumping Ground, and everyone is excited, especially Tracy, who wants to become a writer. But unfortunately, her attempts to make a good impression backfire and she fights with Justine when she provokes her. Meanwhile, Mike is tricked into giving Adele a late night pass.


THOUGHTS: Cam’s First Visit is as you may imagine the first introduction of Cam, a prominent character throughout the series that is of huge significance to Tracy going forward. And with that, a lot of hype is built into her arrival particularly around Tracy who builds this big idea around what a writer should be like and act like, which is quite funny. And as continuing with the last episode, Justine is spectacularly nasty in this episode, particularly when Cam arrives. It’s horrible but Tracy is partially to blame for making such a big deal out of the occasion and spurring Justine on. The subplot of this episode features mainly Adele & Mike, in which Mike tries to secure Adele’s help in cleaning. There’s some fun negotiation between the two, with Adele having the advantage. That is, until the end. It is quite a funny bit. The ending scene is a sweet way to end on, with Tracy & Cam setting up a potentially interesting friendship that may bond into someone much much more.

RATING: 67% - B





Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x05 - Child Of The Week


INTRO: Child Of The Week maybe one of the weakest episodes I've seen thus far in the series, and that's a surprise considering how fondly I remember this episode when I was younger.

SUMMARY:
WARNING: "Spoilers" spoilers below
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 Gee 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 her 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.


THOUGHTS: I don’t recall how I originally felt about this episode, yet upon a rewatch, it has to be easily one of the more frustrating and lackluster in the series. For one, the plot revolving around a small ad in a newspaper makes out Tracy to be silly at best, or downright selfish and ridiculous at worst. The idea that a wealthy couple will read this couple and foster her until her supposed mother returns is one of absolute fantasy, and one of Tracy’s more infuriating traits. Nevertheless, Justine once again is an absolute nasty piece in this episode, with just complete unnecessary cruel remarks towards Tracy, which causes Louise to abandon her albeit temporarily. Elaine’s behaviour also doesn’t go unnoticed, as she behaves quite stuck up and arrogant about her position, a part of her character which will long linger for series’s to come. Stepping away from all that is the subplot with Duke’s vegetables and how the children don’t want to eat them, a tired trope in Children’s television that I just find boring. Are vegetables really that awful to eat? What’s somewhat creative about it is how the children dispose of them, and Duke’s quite funny reaction to it when he finds out. But nevertheless, it’s a weak episode and probably the weakest of the series.

RATING: 58% - B-





Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x06 - The Truth Is Revealed


INTRO: A significant moment in the Tracy & Ben friendship that threatens to derail it forever. That and Justine gets uptight about her room.

SUMMARY:
WARNING: "Spoilers" spoilers below
Tracy is filled with jealousy when Justine's dad give her money to decorate her bedroom. And when Peter and Louise don't want to go into town with Tracy, she storms off and decides to run away, and live on the streets with Ben.


THOUGHTS: The Tracy & Ben friendship has been cute thus far to watch, despite it being based on so much exaggeration. And this ultimately continues in this episode, only this time it’s Ben who is brought firmly in the spotlight. His secret background is now revealed following a nasty fall, and for Mike to come in and unravel the truth that Ben actually has a home and albeit a very wealthy one as we will find out a little later on. The anger here is somewhat justified in Tracy after being deceived, though not completely as we remember she did start this in the first episode. Never the less, it’s a sad moment in their friendship, and Tracy is very upset. Outside of this, we have a subplot with Justine repainting her room and it’s actually pretty funny how she behaves, being extremely bossy and demanding, which sees everyone else get pretty annoyed with her behaviour. But never the less, Adele comes to the rescue in a way, and has a nice moment near the end of the episode by helping Justine. One that earns her character a few points in my book.

RATING: 84% - A-





Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x07 - Never Ever Wanna See Him Ever Again


INTRO: Tracy has a birthday, and with this fact comes a terrific episode I often considered decent on memory. But actually, it's a lot more sweeter and well written than I remember the last time.

SUMMARY:
WARNING: "Spoilers" spoilers below
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, so 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 up and become friends again.


THOUGHTS: Tracy’s birthday isn’t often a device that is used in later series’s (with a major exception later on), but here it’s played for a great episode, one where Tracy has to do something pretty alien to her – Sharing. As it is also Peter’s birthday too and finally Peter gets a bit of the spotlight which I think he does very well with, considering an act we’ll touch upon in a bit. Tracy & Ben are also still raw after the last episode and Ben does try to build bridges in the start, much to no avail. As the episode goes on, Tracy is gifted with a surprise – a card from her mum. Beautiful as it is, it’s all to do with the work of Peter. And yet, the act is seen by Tracy as a kind one, and builds upon the Tracy & Peter friendship. The last few minutes are nice, with Ben & Tracy making up, and a fun dumping ground party. I also found the final scene a little moving with Tracy reflecting on the day. Overall, a great top notch episode and one I enjoyed a lot more than I expected.

RATING: 100% - A+





Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x08 - The 1000 Words About Tracy


INTRO: The relationship between Cam & Tracy begins to get going in this episode, in an episode which may be quite bare on fun and excitement, depending on your perspective.

SUMMARY:
WARNING: "Spoilers" spoilers below
Cam makes a return visit to the home to interview Tracy for her article. When Tracy is talking to Cam, she tries to talk her into looking for her mum. 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.


THOUGHTS: So Cam makes a return, because for some reason she found Tracy’s initial behaviour in her debut episode appealing. She is planning to do an article on life in care, in which Tracy easily misinterprets as being all about her and plans to take centre stage. They bond and discuss life in care, and in particular, Tracy’s background. Cam clearly plays to Tracy’s tune, and Tracy gets a bit carried away after Cam eggs her on with ideas about trying to find Tracy’s mum. The wrong idea is presented and a tantrum by Tracy emerges. The subplot involves Justine & Tracy producing a video about life in care, which ultimately becomes a bit of a gag reel of Justine and several others falling over and being the victim of a gag or two. For once it’s a little fun and for once, Justine is not being seriously mean or downright nasty.

RATING: 69% - B





Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x09 - Bad Peter


INTRO: Bad Peter is an episode I found very conflicting to like or dislike. Don't get me wrong, it's eventful, but it puts you in the position where you judge Tracy quite fairly for doing something pretty deceptive and considered cruel.

SUMMARY:
WARNING: "Spoilers" spoilers below
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.


THOUGHTS: This episode if I’m all but honest, is rather all over the place in terms of the amount of emotions at play, and just where the story goes in around 15 minutes. Some episodes are better at handling this than others, and this is one of the more wilder ones. So where to start? Tracy once again allows her ego to take over, thinking that getting glamorous rich foster parents will be her ticket to a comfy life, and instead gets two older people who are a little more anxious and reluctant than expected. They take a liking to Peter due to his sweet and calmer personality which causes Tracy to take advantage, manipulating Peter to embrace his bad side in the process. And yes, Peter does go all out and becoming outrageous in the process. I remember watching this episode when younger really not liking Peter in this episode, but upon reflection, Tracy really is the villain here and a scary moment involving a prized possession makes her realise that she’s gone too far. Another thing I liked was how much smarter Peter is as a character. I never recalled that before and this episode is good at highlighting that, with some of the littler moments in the episode.

RATING: 70% - B



I don't remember much about this show except for the theme song (For me CBBC was one of those channels as a kid you'd only put on when nothing else was on).

Still, good luck in reviewing every episode.



Dude, this is how dull Lockdown has gotten lol. Either way, the full episode goes with the review so you can watch yourself and wetten your nostalgia.





Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x10 - Cam's Place


INTRO: Cam's Place...really isn't that exciting of an episode to me. Fairly boring if I'm honest. But hey, maybe I'll be surprised.

SUMMARY:
WARNING: "Spoilers" spoilers below
Cam had quite a few homes during her time with Tracy. The first home of Cams that is introduced is her weeny flat on a grubby estate.

This flat, was not to Tracy's liking, as you can clearly see from the disgusted face that she pulls when she enters the flat, shown below. Tracy does not care for Cam's flat and describes it as 'unnatural' when she thinks that it does not have a computer, which cam reveals shory after.

In this flat, Tracy and Cam play a game called 'fortunately, unfortunately' which Tracy enjoys in the end, after calling cam 'barking mad' during the game. Although Tracy enjoys this game, it causes her to choke on her lunch at Cam's when she gets too excited. Things get awkward in the game when Tracy mentions Cam fostering her.

When all this is happening, Tracy is wearing a fetching yellow polo and some slightly snazzy sky blue cargo pants.

In this flat, there are some tribal patterned throws on the chairs and the most of the furniture is made of wood. There is a large desk next to the window and Tracy steals a green, jewel patterned pen and a sharpener that resembles the earth from the draw of the desk. She later puts back the sharpener. There are some shelves cluttered with books and all sorts of strange ornaments placed on them in the flat. There is also a house plant.

When it is time for Tracy to leave Cam's flat, she is reluctant to go as she has taken a liking to Cam's grotty living space. This tells us that Cm's flat wasn't so bad after all (it doesn't smell as bad as it looks then!'

During another series, Tracy and Ben decide to break in to this very same flat and get caught red handed by cam while they are shoveling a box of chocs into their gobs. Cam isn't at all pleased with them both and gets very angry (not what Tracy was expecting!)


THOUGHTS: Continuing from 1x08 with the developing relationship with Tracy & Cam, and I’m quite puzzled as to how Cam is so tolerable of Tracy’s behaviour after three episodes thus far of seeing the absolute worst of her personality. Perhaps Cam is seeing something that I can’t. If I’m honest, the Tracy & Cam stuff is not very exciting to be frank, with her just simply bringing her back to her best and Tracy’s hair being crazily out of control. The subplot centres around Justine waiting patiently for her dad who sadly ultimately never shows up. This is quite a sad moment for Justine and it’s really the first time in the series that you really feel for Justine. There’s quite a really sincere moment for Tracy & Justine at the tail end, but obviously it doesn’t last. Another subplot is Zac & Ryan with the TV. Mike was meant to fix it, but never did and so the boys decide to get their own back. It’s quite basic to be honest, and it makes Mike to be a bit of a tool. With that, I’ve often wondered with these feel episodes if Ryan is a bit of a genius. Fixing TVs, clocks, putting up display cabinets. I mean, this kid has a bright post dumping ground future ahead of him at this rate.

RATING: 71% - B+





Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x11 - Dumping Ground Virus


INTRO: The Dumping Ground has been hit with a virus, and it leads to a crazy amount of behaviour and a story that doesn't quite make sense upon reflection.

SUMMARY:
WARNING: "Spoilers" spoilers below
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...


THOUGHTS: When I was younger, this was an episode I really enjoyed watching. The concept of the entire Dumping Ground coming down with an illness is good fun, and having Elaine come in to look after everyone puts the entire home in a fright. Tracy starts off sick, quickly passing it to Mike, who in turn passes it off to others and therefore creates its own little pandemic….timely huh. Obviously it’s not as deadly as today’s wave of virus inducing nightmare, but it spreads very quickly. Elaine comes to assist and strangely everyone finds this a problem, even though…y’know…there all sick and that. I found the second half of this story utterly bizarre on reflection. Elaine never really did anything wrong. She offered a helping hand and everyone just sprung up all well again due to the thought of Elaine looking after them all. I get that she can be an irritating character, but here she’s perfectly innocent and helpful. So it’s all very baffling for Tracy to suddenly nurse herself to full health and conduct a scheme to get Elaine away. The ending is off with everyone well enough for a celebration of Elaine’s departure. Weird, but that’s children’s television for you.

RATING: 76% - B+





Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x12 - Justine's Telly


INTRO: Justine's Telly is a fun little episode which really begins to show the growing influence Cam has had on Tracy.

SUMMARY:
WARNING: "Spoilers" spoilers below
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.


THOUGHTS: As the series has gone on, Cam’s influence over Tracy has been building, and this episode is a culmination of that growing influence with Tracy setting up her own dumping ground newspaper. She follows a very sensationalist tabloid approach, with bombastic headlines and a driving agenda towards her two worst enemies: Justine & Elaine. The juicy story being Justine’s TV in her very own bedroom which infuriates Tracy completely. Of course Justine being Justine begins to abuse her power by charging people to watch, and double booking times to watch it. Then you have the subplot of Elaine, who tries to be nicer to some care kids which results in some cringe worthy scenes with the other kids. In short, the overall episode is an interesting lesson of journalism and verifying the facts and full story, done in the context of children’s television.

RATING: 86% - A-





Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x13 - Tracy & Cam Row


INTRO: There are times in this episode where you really really dislike Tracy. This is one of those times.

SUMMARY:
WARNING: "Spoilers" spoilers below
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.


THOUGHTS: This is another episode where Tracy gets really over her head here, trying to devise a very flawed plan of breaking into Cam’s flat, rearranging her furniture in some deluded belief that Cam will approve and foster her. Of course, it doesn’t work and a very Angry cam soon follows, enticing quite an intense argument between her & Tracy with an apologetic Ben in the middle. The subplot involved Justine & Louise clashing with Zac & Ryan over washing Jenny’s car. And sure, Justine & Louise are easily in the right with Zac & Ryan butting in when they can. It is underwhelming a little but does pay off with a fun little water fight at the end which is very fun to watch.

RATING: 72% - B+





Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x14 - Sleepover


INTRO: Sleepover presents us a dillemma and situation that perhaps many kids can relate to and perhaps practice: How to gaslight your guardian figure!

SUMMARY:
WARNING: "Spoilers" spoilers below
Tracy, Justine and Louise 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. But can Tracy and Justine work together? Meanwhile, the boys are camping outside in the back garden but Duke decides to camp with them, much to their disappointment.


THOUGHTS: The situation with the sleepover is an understandable one. The girls can’t go due to being in care, and thus it brings up possible security risks due to the care staff not knowing who the hosts are and their intentions. It’s even somewhat reasonably explained to the kids, but yet their up front and defiant to go. Tracy, Justine & Louise form a united front not to go towards the staff, where as in secret, they form a plot to gaslight that staff, and go on their own. However, things do indeed go wrong and therefore the three girls have to do the walk of shame as a result. As a subplot, keeping with the sleepover theme, the boys form a camp out in the garden which becomes a bit less cool when Maxie & Duke hijack it somewhat. There’s a funny sequence when Duke is forced to fit into a very thin tent due to a lack of space in the main one. There’s also quite a funny end scene, but I won’t reveal more because I think the reaction from everyone involved is good.

RATING: 74% - B+





Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x15 - Parents Evening


INTRO: Parents Evening continues the development between Tracy & Cam, whilst also having some fun with it. As well as that, Tracy pulls a fast one on Elaine and it's quite funny.

SUMMARY:
WARNING: "Spoilers" spoilers below
It's Tracy's parents' evening and she has to put up with Elaine the Pain seeing her teacher. Elaines 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, so the boys pitch in to change his clothing style.


THOUGHTS: This is in particular a fun scenario to watch between Tracy, Cam & Elaine. In a way, Tracy is eager to get Cam to foster her and a good way to do this is to coerce her to attend her parents evening. It shows her growing fondness & attachment towards Cam as a potential foster mother, and I found her coming to the school quite touching and sweet. Elaine sadly remains her irritating self in this episode, being quite arrogant and snooty also, in particular with Tracy’s work. Either way, she somewhat gets her comeuppance with Cam sticking up for Tracy. There’s also a subplot with Peter I found interesting regarding being bullied. The way they deal with this subject is quite nice, especially with Peter’s comments at the end was very encouraging and positive to hear. I also like seeing Ben finally mix with other kids in the care home aside from Tracy, and he really does work well with the boy characters on the show.

RATING: 75% - B+





Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x16 - The Postcard


INTRO: The Postcard takes an idea that could have been very emotional and really raised the heat between Tracy & Justine, but instead goes in a very different direction altogether.

SUMMARY:
WARNING: "Spoilers" spoilers below
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, causing tension between the two of them. Meanwhile, a postcard arrives to the DG addressed to Tracy – from her mother. But can its genuinity be proven?


THOUGHTS: This is one of the first times in the series that Tracy makes a legitimate mistake in not telling Jenny or Justine about the message from Justine’s dad. You feel for her, but also the frustration and anger from Jenny & Justine. And then comes the mystery postcard from her mum, which Tracy quickly realises that it’s a ruse. Both Tracy & Ben seek to investigate, or not? No, they instead play up to the ruse and play this prank over the other care kids, despite the fact that Louise has rumbled Justine as the perpetrator and gives her an ultimatum to confess quickly. Even Jenny gets serious with the kids about this situation. It’s all very confusing and overlaps with each other in a way. The subplot is with Zac & Ryan, who get tickets for a sci fi convention despite Zac double booked with karate lessons. So they set up a ruse where Zac pretends to be sick to get out of the karate gig, and make a miraculous recovery in time to go to the convention. However, Mike & Duke rumble their plan in a moment of weakness, and with this knowledge, decide to have fun with them which is very enjoyable and showcases the comedic side of Duke & Mike very well.

RATING: 89% - A-





Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Story Of Tracy Beaker
1x17 - Where's The Work


INTRO: For once, Tracy here is in the right and stands her ground against her authority, and for once, Elaine admits she was wrong.

SUMMARY: 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 and makes Tracy stay in the 'Quiet Room' until Tracy can account for the missing homework.

THOUGHTS: Tracy is in the doghouse following her missing homework which raises the ire of Elaine, and later Jenny, after Tracy acts out in defence. Elaine in this episode you could argue as at her most annoying, jumping to assumptions without really listening to anyone. What I really liked about this episode was the group effort of the other kids to produce a kind act by forging Tracy’s homework to save Tracy from the quiet room. This to me is Louise at her best here, taking initiative and doing her best to make Tracy’s excuse legit. We also see a real insight into Tracy’s insecurity regarding outsiders of the care home knowing much about her backstory. When the homework is finally recovered, you really understand why Tracy was being so secretive about her work. Last thing to mention is Jenny, who is undoubtedly hilarious when dealing with the fallout of Tracy/Elaine and Elaine’s just arrogant attitude.

RATING: 90% - A-