"Survivors" is the 9th episode in Series 4 of The Dumping Ground and the 56th episode overall. It aired on March 18, 2016.
Synopsis[]
Everyone's missing Mike, so Kazima suggests a trip out to raise the young people's spirits - but can she save the day when they get lost in the countryside?
Characters[]
- Mike Milligan
- Harry Jones
- Carmen Howle
- Tee Taylor
- Tyler Lewis
- Jody Jackson
- Floss Guppy
- Mo Michaels
- May-Li Wang
- Bailey Wharton
- Kazima Tako
- Ryan Reeves
- Billie Trent
- Toni Trent
- Finn McLaine
- Sasha Bellman
- Shona
- Helen Howle (mentioned)
Plot[]
The kids are still severely depressed following Mike being sacked when May-Li and Kazima announce that they're going to Green Acres theme park (though the others are anything but happy concerning this). Ryan soon states that Harry is apparently ill, so he and Carmen offer to take care of Harry while the others are away though May-Li opts to call in Shona as well. However, Harry isn't actually sick; he's too depressed due to Mike leaving to come along, though Ryan attempts (and fails) to get him to come out of his room.
Meanwhile, May-Li is having trouble with the Sat-Nav after Tyler messed about with it and they're forced into using an atlas with Tyler being made the navigator. Back at Ashdene Ridge, Carmen states that Shona has had an emergency call at another care home but will be there in about an hour and tries to comfort Harry. Unfortunately, everyone else end up getting lost (and soon have to deal with an angry woman in a car behind them) until the mini-bus suddenly stops due to a flat tyre. While the others are trying to fix the tyre (and the kids still missing Mike), Carmen and Ryan realise that Harry is gone. The two attempt to call Mike, him being the reason why Harry is gone (to no success) while May-Li decides to call breakdown services (which Mo offers to help with) when they can't fix the tyre themselves and Kazima is left in charge of the kids.
Being unable to call Harry and Mike, Carmen thinks about calling May-Li (though Ryan knows that doing so will get the police involved and Harry into trouble) when Shona calls. Ryan covers for Harry and he and Carmen decide to find Harry themselves while Tyler tells everyone a story about a "robot of death" that came to Earth in the 1990s and hunts down humans. When the kids state about how hungry they are, Bailey suggests a burger place that they had passed. Kazima attempts to state that they should wait for May-Li, but the others are too afraid of the dangers in the wild (although Kazima attempts to inform them otherwise). Carmen and Ryan attempt to search for Harry but are unable to find him anywhere, which leads to Ryan blaming himself for not making Harry go on the trip. Carmen, however, objects that it's her fault since it was her file that got stolen and told the police on Mike. While Kazima still attempts to object to them all wondering around without May-Li knowing where they are (and they all soon come across an electric fence, which Bailey finds has been turned off), Carmen states that her file having been lost made her feel as if she lost a part of herself; it had the only letter her mother wrote to her and photos of the two together (even though Carmen still hates her).
When Kazima still attempts to object to Bailey possibly leading them to nowhere, she refuses to walk any further so Bailey leaves with the rest of the kids. Although Ryan doesn't have any hard feelings about what Carmen did, he advises that the others should be told as they (as did Mike) would understand (but is really an attempt to make her a scapegoat). Once the other kids soon see Kazima again, Carmen and Ryan realise where Harry is; since he misses Mike so much, he's most likely gone to see Mike at his house. When the kids are all still lost and soon can't go on much longer, Kazima decides that the others should set up a shelter while she looks for May-Li when Carmen and Ryan find Harry playing cards with Mike. The kids soon successfully build their shelter, but are still hungry and Floss goes through May-Li's rucksack for what she can when she finds some sours for herself, Billie and Toni (though Sasha almost catches the three with them). After Mike goes to get drinks for himself, Carmen, Ryan and Harry, he reveals that he accidently left his phone in the kitchen (hence why he didn't pick up), has tried to call May-Li (to no success) and had a meeting with the union rep which he states is an ongoing thing and isn't sure he can come back. Although Mike still blames himself for leaving Carmen's file in his car, Harry blames the thief of Carmen's file and states his intent to continue running away to Mike until he returns, though Mike tells them to just carry on and hope for the best.
While the kids still attempt to survive on their own and soon find out about the food May-Li has, Mike returns Carmen, Ryan and Harry to the Dumping Ground and Shona. When Carmen thinks about informing the others she told the police, Mike advises her to do otherwise since he thinks that they actually will not take kindly to the news and says goodbye to her, Ryan and Harry (who gives him Jeff to take care of until Mike returns). While the rest of the kids are still in their shelter, they hear a noise which turns out to be May-Li and Mo with the breakdown truck to help them. Following Mike's advice, Carmen agrees to keep to herself the fact that she was the one who told the police and gets Ryan to also keep it a secret (which he agrees with). Having got to where they are, Kazima questions if the kids would still want to go to Green Acres or back home and they all pick the latter option. They all soon return home and state about their adventure while Kazima offers a game of Rounders and thanks May-Li for their day, though May-Li in return calls her a hero. Everyone soon ends up having a good time playing Rounders, including Ryan (though he isn't directly involved).
Trivia[]
- This episode establishes that Ashdene Ridge is located in Newcastle.
- This is the only episode where someone has had a genuine case of hay fever (in this case, Jody).
- This was the first episode of The Dumping Ground to air after CBBC's change to the multicoloured logo. However, on its original broadcast, the end credits still carried the old white letters on green background logo. It was eventually altered along with the rest of the episodes from season 4A, to carry the new multicoloured logo.
- Ashdene Ridge now have their own minibus, being a third-generation Ford Transit.
- Following the episode's broadcast, a special bulletin of BBC regional new programme Look North was uploaded to the CBBC website.
- In conjunction with this episode's airing, a special "Save Mike" campaign was promoted on CBBC's website.
- Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off", which can be heard when the bus is driving around the countryside before it gets its puncture, was previously used as the music for Series 3A's trailer.
Errors[]
- Shona and Jody's names are incorrectly spelt as "Shana" and "Jodie" (although the former is later corrected)".
- The subtitles call Jody "he" at one point.
Cast[]
- Ruben Reuter as Finn
- Mia McKenna-Bruce as Tee
- Sarah Rayson as Floss
- Kasey McKellar as Bailey
- Reece Buttery as Mo
- Annabelle Davis as Sasha
- Amy-Leigh Hickman as Carmen
- Miles Butler-Hughton as Tyler
- Gwen Currant as Billie
- Lewis Hamilton as Ryan
- Stacy Liu as May-Li
- Akuc Bol as Kazima
- Nelly Currant as Toni
- Philip Graham Scott as Harry
- Connor Byrne as Mike