Tracey Takes On... features Tracey Ullman playing an array of original characters. Unlike her previous shows where characters were very rarely repeated, Ullman came up with a recurring cast of nineteen characters to play over the course of the show's four-season run (plus six one-offs). Six of these characters originated from her previous specials: Trevor Ayliss, Virginia Bugge, and Janie and Jackie Pillsworth from Tracey Ullman: A Class Act, and Linda Granger and Fern Rosenthal from Tracey Ullman Takes on New York. Janie is the only character to appear in both specials and all four seasons of the show.