Goodbye Tracy Beaker

Template:Infobox episode Goodbye Tracy Beaker was the thirteenth episode of the third season of Tracy Beaker Returns, as well as the final episode of the series as a whole. It was first broadcast at 18:00 on the CBBC Channel on 23/03/2012.

Synopsis

Tracy is leaving for a new care working job but cannot help but feel Mike is glad to see her go. They have a few heated arguments which ultimately leaves Mike in deadly danger.

Plot

Tracy is having her goodbye party and is about to make a goodbye speech when her replacement, Melanie, arrives and ends up being prevented from making a speech. Unlike Tracy, she is already a qualified care worker (much to Tracy's annoyance). Proceedings are further disrupted when Jody suffers an allergic reaction to a cake she has eaten. Luckily, Melanie saves her life with an epipen, but Jody is taken to hospital for overnight observation.

That night, the boys decide to not act upset about Tracy leaving, so that she will not be upset the following morning (her last day). This backfires and Tracy believes the kids are glad to see her go.

Elsewhere, Sapphire finally reaches the end of her tether with Elektra and telephones the council to learn what has become of her flat, only to learn it has been sold off to be redeveloped. After shouting down the phone (and failing to get anywhere) Tracy comes up with a plan to have Sapphire moved into a new home: she and Sapph will go to the flat where Tracy will take photographs of her supposedly squatting at the flat. She will then upload these photographs to the Internet which she thinks will get the council to put Sapphire in a new home.

While Tracy is out, Melanie devises a way for the children to say goodbye to Tracy, by making a scrapbook (bearing a suspicious resemblance to the one from the opening titles) for her to remember her time at the Dumping Ground.

At the flat Tracy and Sapph take photographs, only for Sapph to decide that she wants to stay there for real. Realising where Tracy has gone (after specifically telling her to not go there) Mike finds Tracy and Sapph and orders them out. Unfortunately for Mike, a beam collapses on top of him, but Tracy is able to free him in the nick of time.

Everyone returns to the DG where Cam and Seth are present for another Goodbye Party for Tracy where she is presented with the scrapbook the kids have made her. She is also finally able to give a goodbye speech.

After the party, Tracy apologises to Sapph for not being able to get her a new flat. Luckily, Sapph is to have a meeting with someone from the council in the following week to sort out getting a new one. Tracy then takes one last look at the rest of the Dumping Ground kids (and Shadow the dog), who are all tucked up in bed.

The following morning, Mike comes in to see Tracy staring out of a window and remembers that Tracy used to do that waiting for her mum. Tracy has one last heartfelt conversation with Mike, saying that he was like a father to her and they bid each other goodbye.

The episode ends with Tracy flicking through the scrapbook, ending on her looking at the page with a photograph with the words "Good Luck Tracy Beaker" printed on a banner.

Trivia

• Final appearances of Dani Harmer as Tracy Beaker, Lisa Coleman as Cam Lawson, Saffron Coomber as Sapphire Fox (though she would return a few years later for a series of web videos called The Dumping Ground Dish Up) and Ashley Taylor-Rhys as Seth.
• Only episode to be aired at a later time of 18:00, as the show's usual slot was taken by Sport Relief Does Glee Club.
• Mia McKenna Bruce (Tee) later said in an interview that one of Dani's last scenes was emotional.
• Connie (Shadow) goes uncredited on the cast.
• Final episode with cast arranged in adults > children > guests in alphabetical order.

• The episode takes place at least a week after the events of Jody Jackson, given that Lily is at the DG for respite care with Shadow.
• Tracy's final conversation with Sapph is late at night in the kitchen. This was also how their first conversation took place.
• Fifth time someone claims to be having hayfever instead of crying, in this case, Mike asking Tracy if she has hayfever and claims to have it as well.
• Photographs taken from the filming of past episodes, including Carmen and Tee with their seahorse balloon, Liam and Frank's photographs they took in the photo booth and Toby with Mr Hamster's cage from A Day at The Beach, a photograph of her and Toby sloshed in paint from Bad Luck Boy, the phtograph everyone took at the end of A Day in The Country and Lily after having fallen off the roof in The Burnywood Menace are seen in this episode.