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The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole (TV series)

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Directed by
  
Peter Sasdy

Country of origin
  
United Kingdom

Final episode date
  
21 October 1985

Genres
  
Comedy, Drama

7.9/10
IMDb

Theme music composer
  
Ian Dury & Chaz Jankel

First episode date
  
16 September 1985

Network
  
ITV

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole (TV series) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenthumb1

Written by
  
Sue Townsend Trevor Waite Oscar Webb

Starring
  
Gian Sammarco Julie Walters Stephen Moore Beryl Reid

Opening theme
  
Profoundly In Love With Pandora

Adapted from
  
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾

Cast
  
Gian Sammarco, Julie Walters, Beryl Reid, Stephen Moore, Bill Fraser

Similar
  
The Growing Pains of, Wood and Walters, Jake's Progress, Filth: The Mary Whitehou, Julie Walters and Frien

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ is a British television series based on the book of the same name written by Sue Townsend. It started in 1985 and starred Gian Sammarco, as the title character Adrian Mole, Stephen Moore as Adrian's father George Mole and Julie Walters as Adrian's mother Pauline Mole.

Contents

It was directed by Peter Sasdy.

Mole family

  • Adrian Mole (Gian Sammarco) is the main character of the series and also serves as narrator.
  • George Mole (Stephen Moore) is Adrian's father and married to Adrian's mother Pauline.
  • Pauline Mole (Julie Walters) is Adrian's mother, who leaves her husband George to live with her neighbour Mr. Lucas in Sheffield. Walters was replaced by Lulu for series two.
  • May 'Grandma' Mole (Beryl Reid) is George Mole's mother and Adrian's grandmother.

    • Other characters

  • Bert Baxter (Bill Fraser) is Adrian's foul-mouthed and strongly opinionated old age pensioner friend, whom Adrian has to look after as part of a school club he is part of. Bert owns an aggressive and unpredictable German Shepherd dog named Sabre, whom Adrian strongly dislikes.
  • Queenie Baxter (Doris Hare) is Bert Baxter's partner, who later becomes his wife.
  • Pandora Braithwaite (Lindsey Stagg) is Adrian's girlfriend.
  • Tania Braithwaite (Louise Jameson) is Pandora's liberal-minded mother.
  • Ivan Braithwaite (Robin Herford) is Pandora's father.
  • Nigel Partridge (Steven Mackintosh) is Adrian's best friend.
  • Barry Kent (Chris Gascoyne) is a bully at Adrian's school who beats Adrian up in exchange for money, until Adrian's grandmother puts a stop to it.
  • Mr 'Creep' Lucas (Paul Greenwood) is the Moles' former neighbour with whom Pauline has an affair in series 1.
  • Doreen 'Stick Insect' Slater (Su Elliot) is a woman with whom Adrian's father George has an affair while his wife is in Sheffield with Mr. Lucas.
  • Maxwell 'House' Slater (Anthony Watson) is Stick Insect's badly-behaved young son from a previous relationship.
  • Dr Grey (Bill Wallis) is the family's jobsworth local doctor, whose bedside manner is generally rude and unsympathetic.
  • Mr Reginald 'Popeye' Scruton (Freddie Jones) is Adrian and Pandora's abrasive and volatile headmaster, who is a huge admirer of the then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
  • Ms Fossington-Gore (Mary Maddox) is Adrian, Pandora and Nigel's opinionated but supportive form tutor.
  • Mrs Claricoates (Marian Diamond) is the school's kind-hearted and long-suffering secretary.
  • Hamish Mancini (Craig Souza) is an American teenager whom Adrian befriends during his barge-holiday with his mother and 'Creep' Lucas.

    • In addition, Brenda Cowling appeared in two episodes as the formidable matron of the Alderman Cooper Sunshine Home, in which Bert and Queenie were residents before their marriage.

    Location

    The series was mainly filmed on location in the Braunstone and South Wigston areas of Leicester. The Moles' house and street were actually filmed in Ludlow Close, Harrow and Adrian's school scenes at 'Neil Armstrong Comprehensive' were all filmed at Hammersmith School in West London (now Phoenix High). Whilst being set in Leicester, which is in the East Midlands, some of the characters speak with a distinct West Midlands accent (e.g. Birmingham, Coventry, etc.).

    Music

    The opening and closing theme was "Profoundly In Love With Pandora" by Ian Dury. It was released as a single in October 1985 and reached number 45 on the UK Singles Chart.

    References

    The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole (TV series) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA