New Life's Eve Tracy Beaker Returns

'I'm Tracy Beaker. Welcome to my first Youth Side View column.

'Writing's my proper job, but I'm an ex care kid

'who's done all right for herself.

'So I help out a bit at the dumping ground where I grew up.'

ARGUING

'Everyone's been having such a laugh since I arrived.

'I'm a role model for the kids.'

What are you doing?

Trying to move the bed!

Yeah, well not very...

'Cos they know I've been where they are now. And I'm there for them.'

ARGUING

'They rely on me for advice.'

CRASH AND A THUD

'And someone to lean on.'

ARGUING GETS LOUDER

WHAT ARE YOU DOIN'?

Huh?

You were supposed to wait until Tracy helped you move room!

-She did wait!

-But Tracy never turned up!

She never does anything she's supposed to.

Help!

You're going to be late again!

It's my first column!

I need it to be great.

What you need is to not get fired,

so you can pay me back the money you owe me.

I got the job, didn't I?

Yes, and now you're going to lose it.

Fine.

-Nearer Lily's bed.

-No, by the window.

Perfect.

Lost the cupboard a bit there.

Maybe we can move the cupboard?

Make up your mind please.

-By Lily's bed.

-By the window.

By the wall!

Thank you.

Sharing's going to be amazing.

Hey. Oh, is Tracy here then?

ALL: No.

Lily seems to have perked up.

Let's hope she sleeps better now she's sharing.

If Carmen stops yakking long enough to let her.

That was a good idea of Tracy's.

When she shows up for work, I will be sure to thank her.

TV Girl's tour was supposed to start after my piano practice.

At 9.40.

It's 9.57.

She'll be here soon, Gus.

Yesterday, "soon" was 26 minutes late,

and you said it was too late for her to do my tour.

Well, I'm sure she won't be too late today. Soon!

So, how long is today's "soon"?

Yes, Mike, how long is it, hmm?

OK, I'll go and ring her.

TELEPHONE RINGS

Tracy!

Oh, sorry. Hi, Rob.

Mm-hmm, come on.

Just had social services on the phone. Liam's coming back.

-Brilliant!

-He's not been arrested again, has he?

No, something about a minor explosion.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no! No-one's been hurt.

Right. Well, there's still no Tracy,

so I guess I'd better make up his room.

What time do you call this?

Tracy, you're over an hour late!

I know, I'm really sorry. I was working on my column.

-It's the first one, it's kind of a big deal.

-So is this job.

Hm! What an honour(!)

Now, take that, sort out Carmen's old room.

-Oh, Liam's coming back.

-How come?

It didn't work out with his foster family.

-I thought you'd convinced them to give him another chance.

-So did I.

Tracy, the tour starts upstairs!

Oh, Gus, can we do this later? I'm busy now.

No, you promised me you'd do my tour.

And I can't do anything until I've crossed the tour off my list.

I can't cross the tour of my list till you've done it!

This is Tee's room.

Tee, the girl, is spelt with two E's,

but tea, the drink, is spelt with an E and an A.

Hiya!

Oh, I was going to do that with you.

Yeah, yesterday.

Tee, I'm so sorry...

No talking on the tour, you'll hold us up and we're late already!

This is Harry's room.

Harry has a toy giraffe called Geoff.

He thinks Geoff can talk. He can't.

Well, maybe you've never heard him.

Toys can't talk. And you can't talk on my tour.

Sapphire's room.

Get out!

THUD

When you open the door without knocking, she throws things.

When you knock, she shouts, "Go away!"

Go away!

This would look amazing on you!

You have to borrow it.

Really? Can I?

Yeah, sure. That's what best friends do. They share.

I've never had a best friend before.

Well, you've got one now. Try it on.

This was Lily's room, but now it's...

Lily and Carmen's room!

-No talking on the tour, you're spoiling it!

-OK, I won't, I promise.

-You don't keep your promises.

-I do!

-Don't!

-We're not talking to her!

-What did I do?

-If you don't know, we're not telling you.

Stop talking!

-Oh, I said I'd help you move rooms.

-Talking!

-Hang on.

Look, girls, I'm really sorry, but...

You're doing it again! Stop talking!

"Tracy Beaker promises not to talk on Gus's tour." There.

Gus!

Now what did I do?! Gus!

Oh, now the tour's over you can get on and do some work.

Yeah? Go on. That way.

-Liam's here!

-Liam!

Hi, Liam!

Where is he?

He's right behind me.

Liam?

Come on, it's only ten metres between here and the car,

we can't have lost him already!

# A million love songs later

-# And here I am trying to tell you

-Keep it down!

-# That I care

-Tracy!

-# A million love songs later

-Tracy!

# Here I am... #

SCREAMS AND COMMOTION

-Get out, get out!

-Get that thing away from me!

Get it away!

What's going on?

Oh.

Hey, Liam.

Sapph.

I told you it was Liam.

-Lily, this is Liam.

-Hi.

HE GRUNTS

So, I guess this ain't my room any more.

It's Poppy and Rosie's. Their sister's my best friend.

Oh, for goodness' sake, Liam!

Could you not come in the front door like everybody else?

What did you think you were doin', huh?

What? You wanted to end up a pile of broken bones on the floor?

Oh, nice to see you too, Gina. So, where am I staying, then?

The pink palace! My favourite.

-We helped paint it.

-Entertainment's better than I remember!

She works here.

Oh! Hey, Liam.

Oh! Writing career going well, then?

Oh! We met in prison.

We met at the police station.

Heard you were coming back.

-You OK?

-Why wouldn't I be?

-Cos you're back here and not with your foster family?

-Yeah, but...

they didn't have a pink bedroom,

or a Frank.

Let's talk.

Er, just Liam, Frank.

But he only just got here.

Tell you what, I'm making lunch today.

How about I make you a burger?

She'll forget!

No, I won't!

Take it, mate.

Burger.

Deal.

Come on.

You don't have to pretend with me.

Pretend about what?

Being back here! It sucks, right?

It's not that bad.

I've been dumped by hundreds of foster parents, it sucks.

-It's OK.

-Really?

I was gutted every time I got sent back here.

Well, I'm good.

-Fine. If you ever decide you want to talk...

-Sure.

Erm, are we done, cos...

I really wanna catch up with Frank.

Sure.

The little girl stood up.

"I'm Katie Kilometre, the famous explorer,

"and I'm back from Antarctica." Everyone cheered.

-But Katie...

-What are you doing?

Carmen's reading us a story.

The Tale Of Katie Kilometre. It's the best book ever!

I tell them stories at bedtime.

They wanted a story now.

But Katie wasn't alone. Behind her was a huge bear,

as tall as three normal bears standing on each other's shoulders.

Where's Liam's file?

Ex-resident's drawer, I haven't had a chance to move it.

Tracy.

I need to talk to you about your timekeeping

and the way you've just...

I'm sorry, I've been all over the place.

It's my first week, I'm trying to get my column right... I'll sort it.

Hey, Liam's been returned five times.

He can be a handful.

It says he always takes it well.

Ah well, not everybody breaks things like you used to.

A-ha-ha, funny(!)

I just think he's not that surprised any more.

-Yeah, but it's still not...

-Remember, you're doing lunch.

..normal.

You are witnessing the birth of Liam-ade.

The greatest fizzy drink of the 21st century.

-He'll blow it up!

-What?!

It doesn't blow up.

It does!

OK, it did once, but it wasn't supposed to happen.

-What did happen, then?

-I stored it under my foster mum and dad's bed.

You killed your foster parents?

No! Just...gave 'em a shock and...

got them a little bit soggy.

It is safe now, though?

Course.

I have made improvements.

Is the bottle getting bigger?

I think we'd better run!

Whoa, slow down! Somebody'll have an accident!

Find Liam and posse and get them to clear up the kitchen, will you?

Mike! I can't believe you never showed me this!

Tracy, I don't know what that is, but it can wait till I've cleaned off.

No, it can't! It's a letter from my mum I've never seen before!

With a note attached from you saying not to show it to me.

Oh, this is really old.

I'm sorry. This should have been in your red file when you left us.

Well, it wasn't! I found it screwed up in the filing cabinet.

I don't know how that happened. I'm sorry, it was a bad mistake.

The mistake was not showing it to me when it arrived!

We did what we thought was best at the time.

It's a letter from my birth mum!

Yes, saying that she MIGHT visit and she'd always let you down before!

So, Cam and I thought it was best not to show you

until we'd had some confirmation!

Cam knew about this?

Well, yes, but...

Gus?

No.

Gus...

Nearly...

Nearly...Now!

-Yes.

-LUNCH!

How come you're making lunch? Where's Tracy?

She's, er, she's nipped out. I'll explain later.

He means he'll tell you when we're not about.

Shall I add "Tracy not doing lunch"

to my list of what she's done wrong?

No, thank you, Gus. Go and sit down.

I want chips! Can we have chips?

Well, let's see. She was late for work,

she didn't help Carmen move rooms,

she wrote in my book...

Not doing lunch makes four.

Eh, Tracy promised me a burger.

Yeah, well, Tracy isn't here, is she, Frank?

I'm adding Frank's burger to my list.

Give her a break, she hasn't been here long.

What do you think people thought of you at first?

You were strange.

Yeah, well, you think your giraffe talks.

Here you are, Poppy, I'll do it.

I bet Tracy's done some good stuff, too.

You should make a list of stuff she's done right

since she's been here.

-She helped me out at the cop shop.

-Oh, yes.

And Tracy's criminal record is an inspiration to us all.

DOOR SLAMS

Tracy?

What are you doing back? Oh, don't tell me you've got fired.

Why are you bringing this up?

This is five years old.

And I thought you knew.

If I knew about it, I'd have said something.

Well, we were trying to protect you!

And we were right.

She never even applied for visiting rights.

You should have told me.

At least I'd have known she was thinking about me.

I'm sorry.

It felt like the right thing to do at the time.

What other secrets have you kept from me?

Have I got a dad somewhere out there I don't know about?

Brothers? Sisters? Am I twins?

Tracy, just calm down! We can talk about this...

I trusted you and you betrayed me!

I'll never be able to trust you again.

Oh, well, now you know how I felt after you stole my money!

It doesn't go in there!

It goes in the compost bin!

Johnny, what are you doing? Get off!

-I'm going to put this in the compost bin!

-Johnny, let go!

-Tracy?

-What?

This can't go on.

You have been late for work every day.

And when you're meant to do lunch, you go out,

and worse, and even more unforgivable,

is that you keep on breaking your promises to the kids.

I do not!

There's Carmen, Lily,

Frank, Gus...

Hmm? You keep letting them down and it happens every day!

And you out of all people should know,

you cannot break your promise to children in care.

Come on, Tracy. You better get your act together, otherwise you're out!

You can't fire me!

You're not in charge, only Mike can fire me!

Tracy.

Kids, go on, off you go.

If you don't mind, Gina, I'll deal with this.

Listen, I've let things slide because I thought you'd find your feet.

But your behaviour today has been completely unacceptable.

And if you don't change your attitude, well...

we're going to have to let you go.

Let me save you the trouble.

I quit!

# Keep on runnin'

# Keep on hidin'

# One fine day, I'm gonna be the one

# To make you understand

# Oh yeah, I'm gonna be your man... #

Don't they look great, Lily?

The clothes are too big.

We're just having a laugh. Fancy some sparklers?

Rosie doesn't like stuff in her hair.

She'll love it, it's like fairy dust.

She won't like it.

She will, look! It's amazing.

-Eurgh!

-I told you not to!

I thought she'd like it.

You never listen!

I don't want to be best friends with you any more.

Come on, I'll wash that off.

-Is that what you wanted?

-Yes.

Do you want another one?

No, thank you. One each. Sapphire's next.

Good luck!

That's a weird question.

-Give them back.

-No.

Why not?

-They look great.

-They look stupid.

People are going to laugh at me.

Well, why did you wear them then?

-Cos my others are being washed.

-Oh, wow, they look great.

You look just like Peter Pan.

Tee...

Can Carmen move into your room?

-Yeah. OK.

-Cool, let's go.

Wait.

Carmen is not moving into your room.

Why not?

Why can't she stay in your room?

Me and Carmen ain't friends anymore.

-She made Poppy cry.

-Carmen?

Well, she didn't mean to, but...

she just keep interfering. She wants to take over.

Lily, I think... I think she might just want to be your friend.

You should give her another chance.

-Really?

-Yeah. then she won't have to move in with Tee.

Liam?

Yo.

Lily doesn't want to be friends any more.

That's how it is in a place like this. You'll get used to it.

But you're in my room, I've got nowhere to sleep.

Yep, the pink palace is now Liam's lair.

It's not like you're homeless, you've still got a bed.

In a room where I'm not wanted.

Listen.

You and Lily, you've just gotta get used to each other.

It's a big deal, living with someone you're not used to.

-Is it?

-One of the biggest things ever.

Look at me, I blew me foster parents up!

Did you blow Lily up?

Listen, you're doing better than me already.

Just give 'em a bit of space, eh? And don't blow 'em up.

Yeah?

What are you doing out here?

What do you think?

Last bottle of lemonade.

Want some?

So, why'd you come back to the Dumping Ground?

Needed a job.

Yeah, but here?

You don't have to pretend with me.

What?

"Being back here, it sucks, right?"

I worked so hard to get away from this place and now I'm back.

Well, I was.

You showed some back there.

Everyone was watching, weren't they?

Not everyone, but the people who weren't,

they had it acted out for 'em.

Oh, no!

It was a laugh.

"I quit!" Tshhh!

Oh! What was I thinking?

Oh, forget it.

It's done.

You don't see me crying over something I can't change.

You wanna see someone cry?

Go write in Gus's notebook.

Who told you?

He did, of course.

Well,

that's your "Liam time" up.

So drink up and shove off.

Yeah.

Takes a bit of getting used to.

And when the storm came,

Princess Rosie, Princess Poppy and Princess Lily

went and sheltered underneath a tent made of feathers and leaves...

I'm...

going to ask Mike if we can change bedrooms.

I'm sorry I've been such a pain,

but I hope we can still be friends.

I want you to have this.

Thanks.

..a tent made of feathers and leaves.

Is Carmen in our story?

Do you want her to be?

Carmen?

Yeah?

You don't have to ask Mike to move rooms. I want you to stay.

We all do.

Thanks, Lily!

I have a question.

Mike, I'm really sorry about earlier.

-It's OK.

-No, it's not OK.

I made a mistake, I... I want to stay.

I'm sorry, Tracy, but it's not that simple.

-But...

-Look.

I don't think that you made a mistake. I think I did.

The business with the letter

has shown me just how hard it is for you to come back.

I shouldn't have said you could come and work here.

But I can do it!

I'll turn up to work on time,

I won't make any promises I can't keep!

I'll make it up to the children. Please, Mike!

-I need this job.

-OK.

I'm sorry, Tracy.

It's been a really tough decision,

but...but it's for the best.

As much as I would like to help you,

the kids come first.

I have to do what's best for them.

I have a list to read out.

Oh, erm, can we hear it later?

Yes, you can hear it later,

but you need to hear it now too.

OK.

Things Tracy has done right -

Rosie says Tracy makes her laugh.

Lily says Tracy's the only other person Poppy lets tie her shoelaces.

Sapphire says Tracy was rude to a boy who phoned her.

She says that's a good thing.

Liam says he likes it with Tracy here,

because he's not the only one causing trouble.

That might have been a joke.

Geoff likes Tracy, Gus.

Tee says Tracy makes...

OK, thanks, Gus, thanks.

I have 11 more things Tracy has done right...

That's OK, but I think I've got your point. Yep.

Now, why don't you leave us alone, please?

Tracy and I need to talk.

Seems like the kids want you to stay.

And if you do,

you are making a huge commitment to these children, right?

You can't keep letting them down.

I won't. I promise.

I know I've got to stop living in the past and move on.

All right. How are you going to do that?

Mike, I've no idea.

But I think I know where to start.

'So, I guess what I want to say is

'sometimes, having a fresh start

'doesn't mean doing something completely new.

'Sometimes it means doing something that you've done before,

'but in a new way.

'Moving forward instead of looking back.

'A wise young man told me something this afternoon,

'which made me realise -

'tomorrow starts today.

'This is my first column and my fresh start.

'So, to all my readers - Happy New Life's Eve.'

ALL: Yeaaah!

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