Tracy Beaker star Dani Harmer is to make a comeback this January in the show’s locally-made spin-off The Dumping Ground.
The actress initially played the popular lead character in award-winning CBBC series The Story of Tracy Beaker, based upon author Jacqueline Wilson’s stories about a sparky 10-year-old resident of a care home, referred to as The Dumping Ground which later became the name of the equally popular spin-off programme.
Harmer was 12 when she first took on the role of the girl with a difficult background in Tracy Beaker which ran for five series between 2001 and 2006 and over the past 20 years she has appeared as Beaker again in a TV special and also played her in adulthood in three follow-up series of Tracy Beaker Returns which saw her character support a new generation of youngsters living in the care home.
This wrapped up in 2012 and then came another outing in My Mum Tracy Beaker in 2021 followed by The Beaker Girls. And now Harmer – and Beaker – are back once more in the upcoming new series of The Dumping Ground in which the now-35-year-old will be making a cameo appearance.
The actress said: “It is so good to be back and making a cameo as Tracy – she’s been a part of my life for over 20 years now.” While this is a one-off appearance in the series, she adds: “I’d quite happily play her forever!”
The new series of The Dumping Ground will make its debut on CBBC this January
(Image: BBC PR)
Harmer has also ventured behind the camera to direct one of the episodes of the drama which has been made in the North East now for 12 years. Its success has helped boost the local industry and the team behind the CBBC series work closely with the North East Screen agency to help nurture local talent and help create a lasting legacy for the creative industry.
The BBC-commissioned series also has a strong track record of on-screen diversity as well as nurturing new talent including its on-screen stars such as Amy Leigh Hickmann and Mia McKenna Bruce. . The focus of filming this time around was Hexham in Northumberland and the resulting season 13 promises to be full of drama and emotion as usual – as well as fun.
Harmer said: “This series of The Dumping Ground will not disappoint. We’ve got some fantastic storylines and some incredibly talented actors joining the cast.
“The team do such an amazing job nurturing them and they have really supported me behind the camera too – it’s such a special production to be working on.” She added: “I loved being behind the scenes for an episode. It was very different being sat in the director’s chair but I enjoyed every single second of it – it felt like that was where I was meant to be!”
The new series of The Dumping Ground will launch on January 17 on CBBC and BBC iPlayer.