Dani Harmer has started filming the new Tracy Beaker series

It’s really happening — filming has started for BBC’s new Tracy Beaker sequel series.

Dani Harmer, the 31-year-old actress who plays the title character announced the exciting news on Twitter. “Wow haven't missed a 5am alarm!!!! But it's the first day of filming so I'm so excited!!! Can't believe it's actually happening. #MyMumTracyBeaker,” Dani wrote.

The hit CBBC show, The Story of Tracy Beaker, which ran from 2002 until 2005, based on the books by Jacqueline Wilson, is now returning to our screens once again. The original series followed 10-year-old Tracy and her friends who lived in a children's residential care home, which they lovingly referred to as The Dumping Ground.

Fans of the show got to watch Tracy and the gang get up to all sorts of hilarious mischief, while also being sprinkled with real moments of heartache and vulnerability.

In this follow-up series, My Mum Tracy Beaker, time has moved on, and Dani is reprising her role as the infamous Tracy, only now she’s grown up and become a mum herself.

Opening up about the new series and her character, Dani said: “I can't wait to return again to the role of Tracy. I'm a fan myself and want to know what happens next and where this journey takes her.”

“Being a mother, I know how much it changes you. So I'm looking forward to seeing how it has changed Tracy but still keeping her the same feisty, strong female lead that people know and love.”

While watching Tracy Beaker becoming a mum will most definitely make us feel painfully old, that won't stop us from tuning in anyway. However, we might have a while to wait, as a release date is still to be announced.