 The "Tracy Beaker Returns" production team won the British Academy Children's Awards for Best Drama in 2010, and earned further nominations in both 2011 and 2012.Hardiman was approached to direct the series by producer Gina Cronk — who like Hardiman, had never worked on the production of a children's drama series.In 2010, discussing how the "Tracy Beaker Returns" team approached "a narrative specifically for children" Hardiman noted that the production team wanted to take on "serious subjects [and] make a kind of ""Play for Today"" for children, leavened with some humour".