Season 7 Finale and Series 8 Thoughts

With Series 8 about to start I decided it was about time to discuss my thoughts on the Series 7 finale and upcoming series.

Anyone that follows Connor Byrne on twitter had a pretty good idea that Mike would be leaving. He posted some tweets at the beginning of Series 8 filming that made it clear that he wasn't going to be involved. However I don't think anything could have prepared the audience for the season 7 finale. Congratulations to Jeff Povey for yet again creating a brilliant episode.

The prom episode was a great way to bring back all the guest characters from the series and tie up all the loose ends: Finn and Ivy admit their feelings for each other, Bec stands up to Evie, Floss and Ross are plotting to get their own way again, Chloe and Jake get to hang out and of course we finally got a proper Jyler kiss! After waiting for 3 whole series from the first sign of Jyler becoming more than just friends, it was great to see them finally kissing and agreeing to start a relationship. Jyler have been on such a huge journey since the two characters first appeared in Tracy Beaker Returns. It has been great to see the characters grow and develop over the 7 series, as the actors have grown up themselves.

It is now time to address the elephant in the room: Mike's departure. The last few episodes of the series built up to an emotional departure for the much loved and longest standing character of the Tracy Beaker franchise. After almost 18 years on our screens it was finally time for Mike Milligan/Connor Byrne to leave the DG. I loved the idea of Mike being a care kid, it was really lovely and revealed so much about his character and motivations. But, and there is a really big but here, there are some pretty huge continuity issues. In #TSOTB series 5, when Tracy is upset that Cam is marrying Gary, Mike tells her about how his dad left him and his mum. He didn't speak to his dad for 10 years but when he did he realised his dad still loved him. Yet according to series 7 he spent his childhood in care and has only just met his mum for the first time. It just doesn't add up! Also when he is awarded an MBE in Tracy Beaker Returns Mike threatens to take his relatives instead of some of the DG kids, if they can't make a decision on which three should go with him. Also in series 1 of The Dumping Ground when Mike is ill with stomach pains and thinks he may be dying he talks about how his male relatives (Uncle Declan, Cousin Brian, grandfather and grandfather's brother) all died of the same illness. Again this contradicts the story that he is a care kid, who spent his whole childhood in care and had never met his mother, let alone other relatives. So how would he have known about his relatives? Thirdly, in series 4 when Jody steals items from the DG one of them is Mike's clock which he's says was his mother's. Yet he has supposedly never met his mum.

However I understand it is hard to keep track of eighteen years worth of storylines and on the whole the idea of Mike being a care kid is quite plausible. Also its not that difficult to come up with some reasons for the references to mike's relatives in previous episodes. The story he told Tracy could well have been made up and he just pretended it had happened to him to make Tracy more likely to listen to it and take on board the moral of the story. Similarly he could just of been pretending he had relatives to take to the MBE ceremony or used the term relatives rather than friends to keep it simple and not get too detailed about his personal life. It's also possible that at some point Mike met some relatives from his dad's side of the family, just not his mum or her family. The clock may have been sentimental to Mike for other reasons he didn't want to go into and/or he said it was his mums to make the thief feel more guilty about taking it.

Everyone seems to be very upset about Mike leaving which is understandable. But I can't quite believe how many posts and comments I have seen across social media suggesting that the DG can't/shouldnt continue without Mike Milligan or won't be the same or won't be as good. Come on Mike was a great character but he was just one part of the DG. The DG is so much more than Mike or Tracy or Jyler. Just as Mike said the DG is not a place it's an idea. It's also not a person/people. It's the love, friendship and loyalty of a family thrown together by chance, through trauma and loss, and that stands together through good and bad times. The DG is more than Mike Milligan. It much more than any of the characters. Don't do the DG or the incredible cast and crew the disservice of thinking that it won't be just as good without Mike/Connor. Because it will. If you look carefully you'll realise that that has already been proven in series 7, as May-Li has been practically running the place already and certainly been the one giving most of the speeches and doing the telling off and giving advice. Series 7 has been phenomenal and I have no doubt that series 8 and 9 will be just as good, if not better. Of course it will be different without Mike but that doesn't mean that the show won't go on or won't be as good. Yes characters/actors will leave, that's the nature of the show. It is ever changing and evolving. But change is a good thing, however hard it is to accept.

One thing I was surprised by was the revelation that it was CBBC's decision for Mike to leave not Connor Byrne's. However the fact that Connor has admitted in the same tweet that he was happy with the decision and the new chapter it has brought professionally and personally, is reassuring. I can see why the decision was made as Connor is old enough to be the grandfather of the 6-12 years old the show is aimed at, so it is understandable that they would want to inject some younger blood into the show and even more importantly after 18 years there's only so much character development that's possible and so many storylines you can come up with before you need a new careworker character. Also all those people that are up in arms about Mike's departure seem to be forgetting that he was absent from series 2, 3 and 4 of TSOTB and the show still continued and was very popular.

Overall I loved the finale. It was incredibly emotional, there were a few unexpected surprises and some great comedy moments as well. The flashbacks during Mikes last scenes were a lovely way to recap on his many years at the DG and of course Tracy Beaker has the final word "Mike, Bog off!". Mikes journey on screen started with Tracy, so it was very fitting that it ended with her too.

In terms of series 8, the trailer suggests another action packed series. We have three new characters: care worker Scott played by Louis Payne, Viv played by Chloe Lea and Nazeer played by Tut Nyout. We see Finn and Ivy spending more time together, Jyler looking very lovey dovey, Taz hugging her Dad, an angry Tyler seeing Kamal again and Floss announcing she has a mum and sister. At first glance it seems likely that Floss' mum and sister are a foster family rather than biological relatives as there seems to have been little attempt to cast actors that look similar to Sarah Rayson. Which contrasts with Ross, played by actor Will Talbot, who does look like he was chosen because he looks like he could pass as biologically related. Not to mention is always dressed in similar style clothes to Floss.

Worryingly it looks like Tyler may be departing in series 8B. He does not appear to be in the scripts for the last four episodes and Miles did not appear in photos during the last few weeks of filming. We also know that at some point in 8B there is another young male character joining the DG played by Jed Jefferson. However it seems that Kia was involved in filming until the end of series 8 suggesting that Jody and Tyler don't leave the DG together, unless Tyler returns at a later point. We'll have to wait and see!

Excitingly it's confirmed that there will be a ninth series as several cast members have confirmed they will be filming again in the summer. So there's lots more to look forward to!