The Dumping Ground

The Dumping Ground is a British children's comedy-drama that focuses on the lives and experiences of young people and their care workers in care. Filmed around Jesmond, the setting for the first series was Elm Tree House, which was later replaced with Ashdene Ridge from the second series onwards. A spin-off to Tracy Beaker Returns, the series was commissioned in early 2012 and first broadcast on CBBC and the now-defunct BBC HD on 4 January 2013. As of 12 February 2016, 79 episodes of The Dumping Ground have aired.

Premise
The premise of the series revolves around the life of children in the Ashdene Ridge care home; typically each episode follows one or more characters' adventures and includes subplots featuring other characters. Episodes frequently include moral messages and tackle social issues.

The first series of The Dumping Ground was announced in March 2012, when Amy-Leigh Hickman (Carmen Howle) announced it live in the CBBC office. The first series was filmed for 13 weeks at the recently closed La Sagesse School in Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, the same setting used for Tracy Beaker Returns. This series was the last to feature the school as the general setting in the Tracy Beaker franchise. The second series featured a new home called 'Ashdene Ridge', because La Sagesse School and its surrounding land was to be demolished and converted into a luxury housing estate. Each series is filmed in the summer, before being shown the following year.