Original subtitles

Sometimes I forget that Peter used to live

in The Dumping Ground with Mum and Justine,

but he never forgets.

Peter was helping to organise some awards for care-experienced people.

"Today, we celebrate the extraordinary..."

And guess who was up for Entrepreneur of the Year?

"..but it isn't just about our nominees."

Er, yes, it is.

I don't want anyone taking the spotlight today.

Today is all about Bog Off.

Good name, innit? You're welcome.

Um, Mum, are you going to get changed?

Oh, no, Justine doesn't want me there ruining her big moment.

You're joking, right? What's the point in me getting an award

if I can't rub it in your face?

Yeah, you're really selling it, but, sadly,

I promised to finish Jordan's room today.

No, Mum, you've got to come. Jordan's waiting for us at Horizons.

OK, I'll see if I can throw something on.

Um, your new dress and your good shoes, I just polished them.

You did what? You're welcome.

Phew! Mum has to be there today.

I am truly humbled by the jury's belief in me.

I came from nothing.

I had nothing.

But now I know it is possible to have it all.

You see, I have a beautiful son and a wonderful partner,

footballing legend Sean Godfrey,

and of course, a successful business

that doesn't only save the planet,

but supports underprivileged children,

Bog Off.

MUSIC: Get Ready For This by 2 Unlimited

# Y'all ready for this? #

ALL: Bog Off, cos poo doesn't have to be a dirty business.

CHEERING

Whoo!

Thank you.

Thank you, everybody. Thank you.

Right, duty's done. Can we go now? No, not yet.

Why not? Sh!

Did you know they were coming? Where are you going? Where's he going?

HE CLEARS THROAT

Good afternoon, everyone. Before we move on to the next category,

I've been asked to present an additional, surprise award.

The nominations in this category were all made

by young people who are currently in care.

Amongst the many wonderful candidates,

one person in particular stood out.

She grew up in care,

worked in a children's home

and, after many adventures, became a mum

and now she's a foster carer herself.

Nominated by Jordan Whitely,

the award for Foster Carer of the Year goes to...

..Tracy Beaker.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Congratulations, Tracy.

The jury were particularly moved by the statements in support of Tracy

by her foster daughter Jordan and her daughter Jess.

CHEERING

I don't know what to say. That's a first.

We love you, Tracy!

APPLAUSE CONTINUES

I've got to go. My audition's in five.

Good luck. You'll smash it. Yeah.

Keep still.

Ajay, you're up.

Come on, Ajay, you'll crush it.

Break a leg.

Oh, sweet, but I really don't think

a goofy magic act is what they're looking for.

It's a full-scale musical. I mean, they'll want a quadruple threat.

That's you, is it?

Sing, dance, act, saxophone.

That's smart. Try everything and you might find something

that you're actually good at.

LOUD BANG

SPLASHING

That wasn't supposed to happen.

I should...hope not.

What have we said to you about messy magic?

Not to do it at home,

but we're not home, are we?

APPLAUSE

Tracy, Foster Carer of the Year!

You lot kept that quiet. I know.

I'm so proud of you. No change there then.

Well done, Tracy. You really deserve it.

I can't even... So, where are we going to put this?

In the shop, so everyone can see it.

And now I'd like to introduce our special guest speaker.

We're thrilled that she's here today

to give us an exclusive preview of her forthcoming book.

Elaine Boyak!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Thank you.

I can't believe it. Elaine?

Elaine? Not THE Elaine?

Don't say it.

Elaine the Pain,

Mum's old social worker.

Hello, everyone.

How wonderful to be here

in front of so many success stories from the care system.

It's been quite a journey from social worker to author and...

Elaine's written a book?

..I owe it to you,

to some of you in particular.

So, I'm going to share some of my favourite stories.

"Little Stacy Meaker was a challenging child..."

Jordan Whitely.

Excuse our appearance. We had a little accident.

This is our panel - Priya, our musical director,

and Lou, the choreographer.

And of course, I am the director.

Yeah, I know. And you know me?

So, if you could...

..stand on your mark, please.

Jordan, the entire point of this audition process

is to see how well you perform under pressure.

If you win a role in The Spirit Of Cooksea,

the whole town will be watching you,

assessing you,

judging you.

What will you be singing for us today?

Jordan?

There's no denying that Jordan can be a challenging child.

What do you mean, bad?

There were some difficulties in her last placement.

That...that wasn't my fault.

Jordan?

Watching you, assessing you, judging you.

Jordan?

Should I play the song?

SOFT PIANO INTRO

Jordan?

DOOR SLAMS

"And when little Stacy walked in,

"she'd been at Adele's make-up,

"she looked like a pantomime dame.

"Stacy Meaker always knew how to make a big impression."

"Stacy Meaker?"

"Now, Stacy had a sworn enemy,

"Janine Smallwood.

"Stacy and Janine were both used to waiting for parents

"who didn't turn up,

"but one day, Janine's dad did turn up

"with a gift, a clock."

Oh, no.

"Janine loved this clock

"and everyone knew what it meant to her,

"especially poor Stacy,

"who had nobody to bring her presents,

"and one day, when Janine was out,

"Stacy sneaked into Janine's room

"and when she came out, the clock was broken."

It was an accident. Yeah, I know.

"Stacy always swore that she broke the clock by accident

"and maybe she believed it..."

I can't listen to this any more. Mum!

Tracy... Tracy!

Tracy?

Elaine...

bog off!

We spent ages making that. Sorry.

So, if...

if we could, um, just get back on track...

Elaine?

Elaine the Pain!

Excuse me?

Jess! What you said was not true. It was an accident!

It doesn't matter. It does. Elaine lied. We'll talk about this later.

Now might be a good time to take a break for lunch.

You don't need to do this now.

Why don't you focus on your wonderful achievement?

Foster Carer of the Year? I just told a social worker to bog off.

THEY CHUCKLE

Some might argue she had it coming.

What if she tells Viv?

I don't think all social workers know each other.

They're all part of the same system.

They get to judge us, not the other way around.

Oh, here it is.

"Tracy deliberately destroyed Justine's clock

"and had to spend time in the quiet room to calm down."

It doesn't matter what I do.

These lies are always going to be out there.

FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING

Mum?

I'm sorry.

You went to all that trouble to get me that award and I just ruined it.

Um, Peter says he can fix it.

I wish he'd fix me. Oh, you don't need fixing.

You're a great mum and a great foster mum.

Yeah, and this is supposed to be your day.

Just don't let Elaine the Pain spoil it for you.

You're right. I'm sorry.

Let's just finish the painting.

You can move back in your room

and we'll just try and focus on the good bits that happened today.

How's that sound?

Good.

Did you explode something too?

I wish I had. Trust me, you don't.

At least you did something.

I need to perform in public

or I'll never get my Stage Two Junior Magician's badge.

Mrs Cook, she just spooked you, that's all.

I don't know.

I don't think Cooksea The Musical is the right place for magic.

Or for me.

What happened?

# I've got you

# And you've got me

# So reach for the stars

# Climb every mountain higher

# Reach for the stars... #

JESS GIGGLES

TRACY CHUCKLES

KNOCK AT DOOR

Hey!

How did you get in? Flo let me in.

Um, are you OK, Beaker?

I'm fine. Grab a paintbrush. You can help us out.

No, thank you. We need to talk about what just happened.

What just happened?

Some evil, twisted weirdo decided to invite Elaine the Pain.

That would have been me. I asked the organisers to contact her.

Why? Because we're all adults now

and we understand that she was just doing her job.

Whose side are you on? There are no sides, Tracy.

You know, social workers aren't the enemy.

But this is Elaine the Pain.

Yeah, well, don't believe everything Mum says.

Excuse me?

Mum doesn't lie.

I never said she does, but, you know, memories are funny things.

If you keep telling yourself the same story, you start believing it.

It was an accident. End of.

No, not end of.

Tracy, you need to let go of this anger from your past.

I'm not angry!

It's not healthy for you.

It's not healthy for you, it's not healthy for Jordan

and it's not healthy for Jess.

Don't tell me how to raise my girls, Justine Littlewood!

Oh, no, you didn't.

I...I think it was just a bit of an accident.

Another "accident", right?

OK, well, so's this!

Oh, that's what we're doing, is it? We're doing it!

Come on, then!

Argh! Stop it, stop it!

SHOUTING AND SCREAMING

Tracy Beaker and Justine Littlewood having a paint fight?

Is this 2002?

What are you doing here? Good question.

I...I tried to warn her.

Tracy, please, Peter told me to let you cool off.

Did he? I couldn't leave it like that.

I wrote my book to celebrate your lives.

But it's not published yet.

Here's my approved copy. If you read it, you'll see.

Careful, Elaine. Tracy's still sore about them days.

I'm not.

You know, if you keep denying it, you won't find peace.

Look, here's a bit about Janine. You see? I don't mind.

I've processed my feelings, so I'm in control now

of my past, my present and my future.

"I don't think Janine even cares about Lulu."

Lulu?

Louise?

"She only befriended her to spite Stacy.

"Everything Janine does is focused on her rivalry with Stacy Meaker."

Well, that's not true because I have my own life.

I'm a mum and an entrepreneur, so...

It's not nice hearing someone else's version of you, is it? No.

I'm sorry if you remember things differently.

I can only tell my own truth.

But, Elaine, the stories of care-experienced people

aren't yours to tell.

You feel like that too?

Look, I know you didn't mean to hurt anyone, but...

You did.

All I ever wanted to do was help people.

You think it's easy being Elaine the Pain?

I never forgot what you called me,

what you taught your daughter to call me.

You want to own your stories and I understand that,

but I'm a human being too with a very difficult job.

I had to cope with some horrible situations.

I did it because I cared.

I still do.

Why didn't anyone argue with Elaine?

It was almost like they believed her.

Is there another side to this story?

Anyway, I didn't come here to upset anyone.

I...I came to give you this.

I found it when I was writing my book.

I was going through some old records and...

Mum, did you write that?

I'm sorry today turned out the way it did.

That's life, I suppose.

Elaine...

Look after each other.

I know you will.

Dumping Ground kids stick together.

Elaine...

Jess.

You know my name?

Yes.

And you certainly know mine.

I'm sorry I called you Elaine the Pain.

I've heard worse.

So, what will you do now?

Get my suitcase from Horizons and go.

Why?

Could I walk with you?

Yes, if you'd like to, but...

I want to know.

What was Mum like when she was a kid?

I'm sure she's told you all about it.

She has. I just...want to know what YOU thought.

Really?

Well...

..your mum was...

..one of a kind...

And as we walked together, Elaine told me her own stories.

It must be so strange.

Yeah, it's my words, but not quite how I remembered it.

It's kind of funny, kind of not.

I'm just going to have to get this professionally cleaned.

I'll pay.

Don't be silly. You can't afford it.

I will. It was my fault.

Do you know how many years I've waited for you to say that?

About the paint, not the clock!

Hey!

How did the audition go?

Bad.

Oh, mate, what happened?

Nothing. I couldn't do it.

I just froze.

What do you mean, "froze"?

Well, it was a panel and it just reminded me of...

Care reviews.

I went in there like a pro, ready to kill it,

and then, bang, I just felt like a little kid again.

Like I couldn't control it.

It's normal. These things happen.

So I've been told.

Yeah, but why?

You're working through some feelings.

That's really good,

even if it's a bit inconvenient.

I've just blown my only shot to be in the show.

Jordan, have you ever heard of the saying,

"Failure is a stepping stone to success"?

That doesn't even make any sense.

Yeah, it does. I've been fighting my past my whole life.

Even if I shut it out, it still sneaks back to bite me.

You've been through way worse than me.

I'm not going to let you miss out any more.

Come on, let's go.

Why do you all have paint on you? It's a very long story.

PETER CHUCKLES

Get in! Strike! Nice. That was good.

It's funny when you talk about Mum, it sounds like you really liked her.

I did.

I do.

All right, Jess?

Yeah, fine. Paish, Mosey, Ty, er, this is... Elaine the Pain.

Oh, um, yeah, you saw... Why has she got paint on her?

It's a long story.

That looks like a fun game. Bog-roll bowling. It's the best.

You want a go?

Er, no, not me, I'm rubbish at bowling.

I'm sure you're not. Why don't you give it a try?

See? Look, I can't do it.

Of course you can. You just need to adjust your positioning.

Sorry.

You don't need me interfering. It's OK. You're only trying to help.

That's not what you said before.

I know, but... She had no right to take your mum's story.

It's a bit complicated.

I did loads of stupid stuff when I was a kid.

Yeah, I wouldn't want no-one writing a book about me.

I do understand.

I've apologised to Tracy.

If there's anything else I can do...

Yeah. You can teach me how to bowl. Really?

Serious?

Please?

Yes! Strike!

THEY LAUGH

We can't. It's too late.

Not until we say it is.

Um, Mum?

Jordan?

Jordan's here to audition. Sorry, we're just finalising the cast list.

No, you can't. Not until you give her a chance.

You've had your chance, just like everybody else.

No, she didn't,

because she's never been given the same chances as everyone else.

What's going on?

I don't know. Um, Jordan had an audition this morning.

I guess it didn't go well.

Do you know how brave she's had to be

just to stand here in front of you all?

I do.

I'm here to play if you'll just let her sing.

Really, Asha, I don't think... You don't think what?

That Asha should play the piano or that Jordan should sing?

Please...

I know I can do this.

I know I can.

Maybe we can help.

I don't know. Um...

Oh, great, that's all we need!

Mum, it's OK. Is everything all right?

It's fine.

Just explaining why Jordan should be allowed to audition for their show.

Can I just ask why you all have paint on you?

Long story. Long story.

But I'm a very experienced social worker

and if you'd like my opinion...

Oh, no.

..here we have an award-winning foster parent

advocating expertly for her foster daughter.

The best thing the rest of us can do is listen.

Um...yeah.

What SHE said.

Very well. Jordan, stand on the mark, please.

The rest of you, outside.

This is an audition, not a football match.

Jordan...

..when you're ready.

SOFT PIANO INTRO

# I thought I was a broken thing

# Lost and never found

# Like a bird with a broken wing

# That never gets off the ground

# But I stood up

# And I'm running as fast as I can

# Yeah

# Never looking down

# Not looking at the ground

# Looking up at the sky

# Cos I know one day I'm gonna fly-y-y... #

Second time round, even Mrs Cook had to admit

that Jordan stormed it.

What a voice! You deserve that part.

Thanks. I mean, it was just a chorister, right?

But you've got lines. Yeah.

Look, you faced your fears and you won.

Why don't you go to the ice cream van to celebrate?

Elaine...

Thank you. My pleasure.

And I'm going to ask for time to re-edit my book.

With advice from an expert?

What expert? You.

If you'll help me?

Me? No-one's ever called me an expert before.

Tell her what you told me.

Really?

Tracy, I've always thought of you as one of my biggest successes.

Well, not mine, just successes.

And...

..you're very similar.

In a good way?

In a very good way.

Telling your own story is important,

but so is listening to other people's.

A real page-turner, is it?

Hmm...

What does she say about you?

Nothing. Oh, lucky you.

Lucky?

Totally forgettable.

No, you're not.

Here, check this book out.

HE CHUCKLES

"His nan's locket meant the world to Peter.

"And he'd given it to me."

You were so kind to me.

And you still are.

I know you fixed it for me to win that award today.

No, it was all Jess and Jordan. I just helped with the paperwork.

I think you did a bit more than that.

No, no, don't read those bits.

"I went over to rescue Elaine from that boring, wimpy little Peter."

I didn't mean it. You're not wimpy or boring.

Or "dopey, wet, soppy"?

This is a good one.

"Snivelling, drivelling Peter Ingham."

Look, I was ten. We've both changed loads since then.

Have we?

I'd still give you the world if I could.

"Weedy Peter Ingham."

THEY CHUCKLE SOFTLY

And finally, a very old story got a brand-new chapter.