The BBC has confirmed that Tracy Beaker is set to return for a new five-part series titled The Beaker Girls later this year.
The show, which will screen on CBBC and iPlayer, has been commissioned following the success of MyMumTracyBeaker – which set a new record as CBBC’s most successful launch with 2.1m streams in its first three days.
The Beaker Girls will star Dani Harmer as Tracy, and Emma Maggie Davies as her daughter Jess. Jordan Duvigneau is returning as Sean Godfrey, Lisa Coleman as Cam, Montana Thompson as Justine, and Danielle Henry as Mary. Newcomer Chi-Megan Ennis McLean has also been cast as Jordan and Alibe Parsons playing the role of junk shop owner, Flo.
The series will follow the Beakers in their new life running the Dumping Ground junk shop in the seaside town of Cooksea. When Jordan, a runaway teen who has been repeatedly failed by the care system, finds her way into the Beaker Girls’ family, Tracy contemplates becoming a foster parent.
Filming on The Beaker Girls is set to begin in Bristol later in August – with the show expected to hit screens later in 2021.
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Tali Walters, Genre Lead, BBC Children’s In-house Drama, says: “The enduring affection of our audiences for the character of Tracy Beaker was clear in the reaction to My Mum Tracy Beaker.
“The Beaker Girls promises to touch the hearts of our audiences and we’re tremendously excited to work with such a talented cast and crew to bring this captivating mother and daughter back to the screen and unveil their next chapter.”
Featured image: BBC
TV & Showbiz
Cultplex’s annual horror film festival returns to GRUB next month
Danny Jones
A much-loved staple of Manchester’s spooky season is returning this autumn as the STAB Season film festival lands back at Cultplex next month.
Part of GRUB over at Red Bank, Cultplex is one of the best small-screen cinemas and hidden gems full stop to be found in the city centre; as the name would suggest, they celebrate fan favourite films, video games, cool nerd stuff and all things culty.
And don’t worry, by culty we mean the stuff people are obsessed with – there’s no risk of stumbling across old people donning hooded cloaks like in Hot Fuzz or anything, we promise.
However, that film is a very good example of the kind of fandom this Manchester ‘mini-cini’ champions, and this October it will once again be taken over by a whole host of horror movies and more as part of the month-long festival.
Promising to deliver “a month of sinister cinema that isn’t for the faint of heart” and be “the biggest yet”, the 2024 STAB Film Season over at Cultplex kicks off on Wednesday, 2 October and doesn’t stop until the start of November.
With this year’s lineup featuring sci-fi and supernatural classics such as The Exorcist (1973) and Alien (1979) – and that’s just the double-bill they’ve booked in for Halloween night – as well as full-on movie marathons, special spooky one-offs and other events.
We’re talking quizzes, Q&A and binging of TV box sets just to name a few. Basically, it’s going to be equal parts terrifying and terrific.
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Kicking off the city’s longest-lasting horror movie festival with their annual airing of 1974’s locally-shot-yet-criminally-underseen The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (now THAT is what you call a cult film), before swinging headlong into Wes Craven’s hit slasher franchise Scream and Korean zombie hit Train to Busan (2016), this thing is going to move at a mile a minute.
It’ll be Halloween before you know it. You can find the full STAB Film Season 2024 line-up below:
Date
What’s on at STAB Film Season – Cultplex @ GRUB
Wednesday, 2 October
19:30 – The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1974)
Thursday, 3 October
20:30 – Sprechen: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari + live score
13:30 – The Addams Family (1991) 16:00 – The Blob (1988) 19:00 – Zombie All-Nighter ft. Train to Busan (2016), Return of the Living Dead (1985), REC (2007) and Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)
Sunday, 13 October
16:00 – Interview With The Vampire (1994)
Wednesday, 16 October
19:30 – Halloween Quiz Show
Friday, 18 October
18:00 – Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace (2004 — and our pick of the bunch*)
Sunday, 20 October
13:00 – TRASHFEST with Andrew Leovald Q&A 16:00 – CULT CLUB: The Mummy (1999)
Wednesday, 23 October
19:30 – GASP: Suspiria (1977)
Thursday, 24 October
19:30 – MAGHOUL (amateur video game night – but scary)
13:00 – A Lovely Time: The Simpsons ‘Treehouse of Horror’ Quiz 13:30 – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) 16:00 – In The Mouth of Madness (1994) + Nick Helm Podcast 20:00 – A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) for Freddy K’s 40th B-Day Party
Sunday, 27 October
13:00 – Movie Church: Bride of Frankenstein (1935) 16:00 – Linnea Quigley’s Horror Workout (1990) 19:00 – Tetsuo The Iron Man (1989)
Wednesday, 30 October
19:30 – Arrow Film Club: Ju-on The Grudge (2002)
Thursday, 31 October – HALLOWEEN!
19:30 – Double-bill: The Exorcist (1973) + Alien (1979)
Halloween and horror fans won’t need convincing on this one, you already know the drill.
You can expect all this and loads more surprises we wouldn’t dare spoil for you when STAB Film Season kicks off at Cultplex next month.
And the best part is, you’re already at GRUB, so proper good food and drink is right on your doorstep. Just try not to throw it all in the air when the jumpscares start.
Full-season listings can be found HERE with tickets for all events available to book now – if you’re brave enough. It’s not the only thing fright fans can look forward to this year either…
Waterloo Road has boosted Greater Manchester’s economy by a staggering £6.5 million
Thomas Melia
Waterloo Road has boosted Greater Manchester’s economy by a staggering £6.5 million, according to the BBC.
The British high school classic has seen strength after strength following the new BBC reboot.
Waterloo Road first reached our TV screens in 2006, where we saw Salford’s-own Chelsee Healey burst onto the scene as the fiery Janeece Bryant, a disruptive but loveable student who always found herself getting into trouble.
Since then, the school-based drama has gone on to see 14 seasons and more than 200 episodes, with an eight year interval in between, befoore returning to our screens again in 2023.
And with a new season dropping just yesterday (10 September), the love for the show certainly isn’t over yet.
The show has been filmed in Greater Manchester since airing, with three seasons retreating to the Scottish lowlands of Greenock in Scotland.
The first seven series of the TV drama were filmed in the former Hill Top Community Primary School in Rochdale, with the filming location for the most recent season taking place at a former Manchester College building in the city centre.
In new statistics provided by the BBC, it was revealed that the production of the first three new series generated more than £9.5 million for the broader North West area, and at least £6.5 million for Greater Manchester’s economy alone.
“It’s a series that helps nurture and champion local talent and directly supports the economy in the North West,” commented Charlotte Moore, who is the BBC’s Chief Content Officer, “and it’s also part of a much bigger story.
“The BBC now invests more than 60% of its TV budget outside of London – supporting hundreds of production companies and suppliers.”
The Manc -
19th August 2021 
