Category Archives: Childrens

There’s life after Tracy for the Dumping Ground

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Loyal Tracy Beaker Returns fans watched the Series 3 finalé  with heavy hearts, knowing that this time we wouldn’t just have 9 months to wait for a visit to the Dumping Ground but that this was the end. There were tears (not just from me). Tracy said goodbye to Mike and walked out. It was all over. Forever.

That was until I read that just two days’ previously the BBC had quietly commissioned a brand new series, The Dumping Ground to be aired in 2013, with the same writers, same director, same Nick Sharratt animations and of course, the same Dumping Ground we know and love. Happy days.

The cast of Tracy Beaker Returns

Tracy and the current Dumping Ground kids

Admittedly there will be no Dani Harmer as Tracy. Aged 23 and having played our favourite heroine for over 10 years it’s not unreasonable that she wanted to move on and try something new. After her and Tyger’s near win on Let’s Dance for Sport Relief she’s starring as Dorothy in a touring production of the Wizard of Oz and says her dream role would be the Doctor’s Companion in Doctor Who. That would be a treat. I bet Tracy Beaker would give the Doctor a run for his money…

Anyway, back to the programme- we will undoubtedly miss Tracy but ever since she’s been a careworker, she’s been a bit more in the background and the new DG kids have usually been the focus of the stories. It makes sense that they could go on without her but still gives her the chance to cameo every now and then if she wants to. It’s win win.

The cast itself has yet to be confirmed, although it’s reported that the brilliant Gus, played by talented Noah Marullo and Carmen, Amy Leigh Hickman will be returning. Personally I have my fingers crossed that the DG will still be headed up by Mike and Gina and will keep on the current TBR kids as they are all well-rounded characters brought to life so accurately by the young actors, especially Tee and Elektra, two of my favourites.

Without a title character who could up and leave, I think The Dumping Ground is a series that could run and run with unlimited possibilities for storylines, new angles and new cast members. Roll on 2013!

 

Tracy Beaker returns better than ever

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The new series begun on Friday but I have been wrestling with myself, wondering whether it’s ok for someone aged twenty two to be writing about their love of Tracy Beaker Returns, a show obviously meant for kids.

(Evidently) I decided it was, as it’s a brilliant show in its own right, as well as being a wonderful little piece of nostalgia for me and other not-quite-adults who grew up (almost) with the inimitable Tracy Beaker, played by Dani Harmer.

Although the original Tracy Beaker was a real favourite of mine, looking back I can see the stories were quite unambitious, the show was too short and some of the acting by the kids was pretty dire. Remember the dreadful Michael anyone? Or Hayley? And even Louise had her moments. Cheeky thirteen year old Lol stands out as one of the best but even he was hiding a dark secret. He was actually 21.

So naturally I was delighted when Tracy Beaker Returns came along and I could not only see what my childhood heroine and favourite careworker Mike are up to now, but also watch a proper 30 minute, well-written drama full of beautiful and touching performances by both talented adult and child actors.

From left to right : Gina (careworker), Lily, Sapphire, Harry, Carmen, Tracy, Gus, Tee, Johnny, Toby, Liam, Frank and Mike

Dani Harmer manages to strike the perfect balance between seeming a (fairly!) responsible adult and care worker whilst still maintaining the fiesty, rebellious and independent side the young Tracy had in abundance.

I wasn’t sure what I’d make of the new Dumping Ground or its residents but both aspects are far better than before. All the children have very well-defined characters which they bring out remarkably naturally.

I think special mention should go to Noah Marullo, who portrays Gus, a boy with Aspergers Syndrome and gets it just right. I like how the character is not overdone or stereotyped. Gus often struggles to understand the world and gets distressed if things aren’t in order but at the same time is a fully functioning and charming child with a real sense of fun.

Mia Mckenna Bruce, as Tee is another particular talent. Her performance when separated from her brother Johnny was very touching. It didn’t quite make me shed a tear but I’m fairly sure some softies I know would have had a little cry at that.

I’ve picked out just two, but I can’t actually stress how impressive and loveable each and every one of the children is.

The stories are much more meaty too, and far more dramatic. It’s very satisfying but also amusing, as an older person watching. The first episode of Series 3 included 2 fires, Tracy being pushed down the stairs and leaving in an ambulance and Gus falling through the floor. These stunts were fairly realistic for a kids’ programme but still endearingly OTT. It all just adds to its charm.

Eastenders, you’ve got nothing on the Dumping Ground!

Catch up with the first ep of Series 3 on BBC iPlayer http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b019853n/Tracy_Beaker_Returns_Series_3_Slow_Burn/

The Borrowers missed the mark

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One of the Christmas offerings from the BBC this year was The Borrowers, a modern adaptation of the Mary Norton classic.

Although it is a well-known story it hasn’t been adapted for the screen many times. It was made into a film in the 1970s and once again in the 1990s, and more recently an anime version from Studio Ghibli. But the television series of the 1990s with Penelope Wilton and Ian Holm is one of my all time favourite shows, let alone adaptation of The Borrowers, so this new version had a lot to live up to.

There is no doubt that scenes were a very small man treats the humble living room as an assault course all to get one Quality Street for pudding is mesmerising. But after that it just felt weird.

The cast, all good actors, just felt wrong. Christopher Eccleston as Pod saved the borrowers once before and retired before reaching 50. Sharon Horgan as Homily had raised a child begging to join the adult world at 40 and now Victoria Wood is a grandmother to quite a grown up child. All this miscasting of ages made it jar slightly.

And Stephen Fry being evil and lusting after Victoria Wood was strange.

My biggest annoyance about the show was the modernisation of it. As a child I loved Arrietty, she owned a miniature book set and wrote in her diary using a small pencil but to her was one of those inconveniently large pencils.

She acted like a teenager does, wanting to be like her parents and at the same time not. But in this version she wanted a man to call her own and that man should not be her father.

So she stumbles out into the world to find Spiller, who has now become a tearaway (made obvious by the fact that he is wearing a leather jacket) and had set his eyes on Arrietty.

This modern update of the story completely missed the important bit that Spiller was actually a nice person just wild and knew more about the world than Arrietty. They developed a friendship which allowed Arrietty to get to know more about the world rather than just she found a pretty man to kiss.

So I found this Christmas treat completely missed the mark as it just took the originally story at face value and missed the important aspects of growing up and why Arrietty is such a good character, rather than a girl annoyingly screeching at her father about nothing.

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The kids are alright

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After the success of British Bake Off the BBC decided to make a kids’ version of the show for CBBC.

One of the worries were the usually harsh judges. I am sure Paul Hollywood has made grown adults cry because their icing wasn’t flat enough on the cake. However, Marry Berry and Hollywood are both quite considerate and generally spend their time more impressed than disappointed.

Especially when you have 9-12 year-olds who will quite happily make you cake, some of them are even making ganache for their three-tier chocolate cakes.

The format of the show is slightly different to its grown up version as each day across the week four children go against one another for a place in the semi final. Each day only one child is picked, which is actually quite heartbreaking as they are all so good.

Each show is made up from the contestants following a recipe to make one of Berry or Hollywood’s favourite cakes or dessert then they make their cake invention based on that day’s theme like animals, festivals or chocolate.

Seeing as they are children more disasters were expected, much like when Rob dropped his cake. However, the children manage to cope with the stress very well. There have been some mishaps like forgetting to put in some ingredients and not realising the cakes would rise as much as they did and got stuck in the oven. The biggest mistake to have happened so far was one child used icing sugar instead of self-raising flour in his cake accidentally, but come on he is nine-years-old!

The only fault was host Aaron Craze, who I originally thought was a stereotypical CBBC presenter who was in his 30s and trying too hard to be cool. Turns out that he is a chef who has been mentored by Jamie Oliver and baking led him away from the hardened criminal life that the rest of his family have, which actually ends up making him quite likeable.

The show is enjoyable and seeing cakes being made is always fun, it is slightly difficult to see children getting judged for something that they can do substantially better than most adults, but it isn’t as delightful middle class as its adult version which I do miss.

All I want for Christmas is lots of television

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As we are only seven weeks away from Christmas Day it is time to speculate about what will be on our television screens for the big day and look at some of the highlights so far.

The BBC has the usual big players with the Strictly Come Dancing special, Doctor Who  and a Top Gear special which this year is in India, according to Jeremy Clarkson.

ITV so far has been keeping most of its Christmas plans as secret as Santa’s naughty and nice list. All that is known so far is there will be a Christmas episode of Downton Abbey.

However, there are a few surprises slipped away in our seasonal stocking. Channel 4 will be showing what Gypsy King, and Big Brother winner, Paddy and his family do at Christmas and of course some snowy weddings take place as well.

There is the usual fill of cookery and craft programmes with Jamie’s Christmas, River Cottage Christmas and Gordon’s Christmas Cook-a-long Live just on Channel 4 alone, with Kirstie Allsopp’s Handmade Britain series, which is on at the moment, culminating with two Christmas themed specials.

The BBC’s big drama adaptations include a three-part special of Great Expectations and The Borrowers, with Stephen Fry, Victoria Wood and Christopher Eccleston. Whilst ITV has Lawrence Fox in the depressing sounding Christmas drama Fast Freddie, The Widow and Me, which follows a car salesman who is found guilty of drink driving. Channel 4 has a yuletide edition of This is England 88.

And Christmas would not be complete with a good laugh, the Beeb has a Christmas edition of most of its big comedy series such as QI, Rev, Mock the Week and Outnumbered. But making another return is Absolutely Fabulous with a Christmas and New Year’s Day special.

Channel 4 has the, now well established, Big Fat Quiz of the Year hosted by Jimmy Carr, Chris Moyle’s Christmas Quiz as well as a Christmas and New Year edition of Alan Carr’s Chattyman.

However, my highlight will be the Aardman special. No Wallace and Gromit this year but there will be a 30 minute Christmas Eve special of Timmy Time.

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Sooty Sweeps back into action

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There is a new series of Sooty over on CITV and the great thing about it — it is good!

I was skeptical as this beloved show from my childhood was fantastic (and my 21-year-old self will maintain that it was fantastic).

Originally started back in 1948 with Harry Corbett who then passed it on to his son Matthew Corbett in the 1970s.

Matthew Corbett is the man I remember as Sooty’s operator who lived with the bear as well as Soo and Sweep and other characters who would drop by now and again, as well as amusing celebrity cameos.

Then Matthew Corbett passed the bear baton to Richard Cadell and the company moved to a hotel, and this is where I stopped watching. It felt embarrassing and strange and went against what I knew as the show.

However, I happened to catch some of the new series on CITV and was pleasantly surprised. The company has now moved into a caravan holiday camp which feels slightly dated but is fun and creates a nice atmosphere. It also has the mini sets for the puppets back, which are adorable.

It also has the celebrity cameos in abundance. Some are questionable as they needed milk and eggs so found the local friendly farmer Keith Chegwin, and Justin Lee Collins playing a Wacky Races villain. There will be a delay to see Paul Daniels with the puppets though as he had to go to A and E after Sooty through a pizza at him.

My only complaint is that the opening titles are nowhere near as awesome as the ones in the 90s.

Who killed CITV?

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Maybe because it’s the summer holidays and they need more shows to entertain the kids while they’re off school, but ITV have been re-running a load of old dramas from my childhood, bringing me a lot of pleasure in recent months.

Programmes like The Worst Witch, pretty much my favourite when I was about eleven, My Parents are Aliens and Bernard’s Watch, then The New Worst Witch, which arrived a while later,  have all been, or are currently being re-shown on the CITV Channel.

Watching back these old gems, as well as giving me a lovely sense of nostalgia makes me realise several things.

CITV used to be so good. Take The Worst Witch for example. It’s all such fun. The acting, by the majority of the child stars, is a bit on the wooden side and the special effects are comical. The broomstick flying is wobbly and the ‘magic’ is…well…it’s definitely nothing to rival Harry Potter, let’s put it that way.

worst witch

The Worst Witch

But then, it was made way back in 1998 and at a fraction of the HP budget, so what can we expect? It’s really all quite charming.

Seeing these shows made me ask: what an earth has happened to CITV? It’s such a shame that ITV has so neglected its children’s programming, especially its drama. Ditching kids’ tv from the main channel and shoving it all into CITV where no one much sees it have made them lazy. It’s no longer live and they don’t even have a presenter any more.

Besides a few rubbishy new cartoon series and the odd decent magic show fronted by Stephen Mulhern, CITV has little to offer other than endless Horrid Henry reruns and now repeats of The Worst Witch and similar. Without these golden oldies the channel would have no drama at all, which is a shame, as it used to have lots.

CBBC on the other hand is doing a fine job commissioning new dramas of all sorts, all the time. Yup. ITV has given up on its kids.

This is a shame, not only for its viewers but because it used to be such a good platform for home-grown young talent.

I’d forgotten how many familiar faces from today’s tv shows first got their big break appearing in CITV dramas.

The Worst Witch stars Felicity Jones as Ethel Hallow in the first series and Jessica Fox as Enid Nightshade. Unlike some of the others these girls were good. Felicity Jones has since starred in Northanger Abbey, Brideshead Revisited and even the movie, Cemetery Junction. Jessica Fox has been starring in Hollyoaks (ok, it’s not quite hollyWOOD but still) for a number of years now.

In The New Worst Witch, Alice Connor played Hettie and Annabel Barnston, Hettie’s friend Mona. Since then Connor has starred in movie, The Thief Lord and Barnston in popular new comedy Coming of Age. Obviously there are plenty of others too.

Ten years ago CITV was thriving, discovering new talent and providing children (like me) with great drama to entertain and inspire imagination. So what went wrong?

I’m really not sure. It’s probably down to budget like everything else. But it’s not cool. I think it’s time to shape up CITV or face a bleak future.

Rastamouse is in da house

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I take my role as TV Talk’s kids’ television expert very seriously. So as I was perusing the CBeebies channel, for strictly work purposes obviously, I came across what was possibly the strangest and most puzzling programme I have ever experienced.

This programme is Rastamouse.

Rastamouse is, as it sounds, the story of a Rastafarian mouse. He wears a ‘crown’, gold bling and speaks with an exaggerated Jamaican accent.

But he isn’t just any rasta-mouse. He is a skateboarding, reggae-playing crime fighter and member of The Easy Crew who devotes his life to ‘makin’ bad tings good’ (and no that’s not me being racist, this is what it says on the website!)

In the episode I saw, the mousey leader of the local orphanage, Bandulu, needs to make  a birthday pie for President Wensleydale. However, the pies keep disappearing and he hasn’t got the energy to make any more. What is he to do? Step up Rastamouse to catch the ‘tief’.

The amazing plot twist comes when the culprit turns out to be Bandulu himself, sleep-walking and eating the pies.

Obviously this revelation was very shocking but apart from that the story was nothing unusual for kids’ tv.Rastamouse and friends come to CBeebies

What is utterly amazing is the quality of the accents, evidently voiced by English people such as Reggie Yates and one of whom sounds exactly like Dillys out of Postman Pat doing an exaggerated imitation of the accent. I literally watched the whole show open-mouthed.

There’s nothing actually bad about it. Indeed Rastamouse is the hero of the piece and is presented as being ‘super cool’. It’s a cheery and good-natured programme. It’s just that it’s also astonishingly clichéd and OTT, racial stereotyping at its best.

It really has to be seen to be believed, so if you like partially-clad rodents and ‘mega boombastic riddims’ take a look for yourself.

Rastamouse can be seen on the CBeebies Channel or on bbciplayer

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