The BBC is extending the Tracy Beaker brand with a new five x 28-minute series that will roll out on CBBC and BBC iPlayer later this year.

A live-actioner for six to 12s, The Beaker Girls follows a group of kids who run a second-hand store, overcome obstacles and become a family under the care and guidance of parental figure Tracy Beaker.

Ordered by Sarah Muller, head of BBC Children’s commissioning and acquisitions for kids seven and up, the series will be produced by the pubcaster’s in-house production team and starts filming this month. Emma Reeves (Tracy Beaker) is writing the scripts, with Gina Cronk (Get Even) serving as executive producer, and John McKay attached as producer and director. BBC Children’s in-house drama genre lead Tali Walters will oversee the series.

Tracy Beaker started out as a ’90s book series by Jacqueline Wilson, and has since become a popular TV brand for the BBC. Its on-screen iterations include original CBBC series The Story of Tracy Beaker (120 x 15 minutes, 2002-2005), in which rambunctious orphan Tracy causes trouble while making friends in an orphanage; Tracy Beaker Returns (39 x 30 minutes, 2010) and its spinoff The Dumping Ground (163 x 30 minutes, 2013), which had its ninth-season premiere in June.

The Beaker Girls is an extension of CBBC’s My Mum Tracy Beaker (pictured), which premiered in February. It was CBBC’s most successful show launch to date, generating more than 2.1 million streams on iPlayer in its first three days, according to a release.