Jody Jackson arrived quite explosively at the Dumping Ground just before Tracy’s departure as care worker at the end of Tracy Beaker Returns. Jody’s arrival scene was very similar to the scene at the end of TSOTB where we see Elaine struggling to carry a new girl, who is kicking and lashing out, into the Dumping Ground as Tracy and Justine are on the steps waiting to leave. In both cases we see a new young girl who is being wild and aggressive and clearly doesn’t want to be brought into the DG. In both cases representing a new generation moving into the Dumping Ground as Tracy leaves that is just a feisty and strong willed as Tracy. This suggests that for every care kid that leaves a new ones replaces them, just as scared, with just as many issues from their troubled past and causing just as much drama in the DG.
One similarity between Tracy and Jody are that they are both very imaginative and use their imagination to help cope with difficult situations and deal with their past. In Tracy’s case she imagines her mum as a film star living in Hollywood, which is far from the reality of her difficult past and neglectful mum. She comes up with stories about her mum and also uses her imagination to come up with stories as excuses for her behaviour or embellish life in care. Jody is also very imaginative and loves reading stories. She retreats into the imaginary world of Wonderland when faced with the dilemma of whether to testify against her brother Kingsley at his trial. She also enjoys reading Peter Pan. Both girls use their imagination to help them cope with their fears and difficult pasts.
Both can be very determined, fiery and stubborn but are also fiercely loyal to their friends. They are willing to fight for the friends and empathise with them and fight for what is right, speaking out against any injustices or wrongdoings. For example Jody is quick to tell Mr Wharton that he is failing as a father and also to point out to Filmmaker Sasha that she is not getting a realistic portrayal of life at the DG. She is shown to empathise with and care for other characters including Tyler who she creates a memory box for and later develops romantic feelings for, is concerned for Bailey’s welfare when he leaves with his dad, and helps new girl Taz settle in. Similarly Tracy helps Dolly to ‘foster’ a stray dog when it reminds Dolly of her foster family’s dog, helps Jackie ‘rescue’ her grandad and also is quick to point out to Justine’s step mum that its not fair to get Justine’s hopes up, if they plan to dump her back at the DG after the baby is born.
Both Tracy and Jody are central characters to many of the stories in TSOTB and TDG. Whilst Tracy is the specific focus of the TSOTB, particularly in series one which follows the storyline of Jacqueline Wilson’s books, in later series other characters begin to share the spot light with her more and even in earlier series there are subplots that focus on other characters. In TDG there is no one main character, with all the care kids featuring relatively equally. However Jody is a central character, that has remained part of the DG for seven series. There have been many storylines that have focused on her background including SOS in series 1, the Jody in Wonderland special, the series 4 finale episodes One for Sorrow and Two for Joy and Series 6 Jody on the Ropes and Saved by the Bell. Other episodes have focused on her character development and emotional wellbeing including Series 2 Experience, Series 3 Stuck With You, Series 4 Stepping Up and Series 5 Sitting in A Tree along with multiple episodes in Series 6 culminating with episode 22.
The close friendships and romantic relationships of both Tracy and Jody have also been a big focus of TSOTB and TDG. In TSOTB we are shown Tracy’s close friendship with Ben, her first crush on Wilson and later there is a close friendship between Tracy and Crash, with hints that there could be romantic feelings. Similarly in TDG we have seen Jody’s relationship with Tyler develop from close friends to falling in love and Jody briefly having a relationship with Brandon before finally admitting her feelings for Tyler and him vice versa.
Whilst the character of Jody can never been seen as the main central character in the same way as Tracy Beaker as the Dumping Ground doesn’t focus on any one particular child, she does have similar character traits to Tracy and her arrival shortly before Tracy’s departure does suggest that in some ways she may have been brought in to partly fill the void that Tracy would inevitably leave. Jody has become one of the longest standing and most loved characters of The Dumping Ground and we look forward to seeing more of Jody in Series 7B and beyond.
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