The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (TV series)

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The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole
GenreComedy/Drama
Written bySue Townsend
Trevor Waite
Oscar Webb
Directed byPeter Sasdy
StarringGian Sammarco
Stephen Moore
Lulu
Theme music composerIan Dury & Chaz Jankel
Opening themeProfoundly In Love With Pandora
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes6
Production
ProducerPeter Sasdy
Running time50/26 minutes
Production companyThames Television
DistributorFremantleMedia
Release
Original networkITV
Picture format4:3
Audio formatMono
Original release5 January (1987-01-05) –
9 February 1987 (1987-02-09)

The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole is a British television series based on the book of the same name written by Sue Townsend. It aired from 5 January to 9 February 1987 and starred Gian Sammarco, as the title character Adrian Mole, Stephen Moore as Adrian's father George Mole and Lulu as Adrian's mother Pauline Mole.

Characters[]

Mole family[]

  • Adrian Mole (Gian Sammarco) is the main character and narrator.
  • George Mole (Stephen Moore) is Adrian's father and estranged to Pauline.
  • Pauline Mole (Lulu) is Adrian's mother, who left her husband George in The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole to live with Mr. Lucas.
  • May 'Grandma' Mole (Beryl Reid) is George Mole's mother and Adrian's grandmother.
  • Rosie Mole is Adrian's baby sister.

Other characters[]

  • Bert Baxter (Bill Fraser) is Adrian's foul-mouthed and strongly opinionated old age pensioner friend. He lives with Queenie in a bungalow, along with Bert's aggressive and unpredictable German Shepherd dog, Sabre.
  • Queenie Baxter (Doris Hare) is Bert Baxter's wife, who later dies of a stroke.
  • 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 becomes friends with Adrian.
  • Mr 'Creep' Lucas (Paul Greenwood) is the Moles' former neighbour with whom Pauline had an affair.
  • 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. Stick Insect also gives birth to a baby boy, Brett (George being the father) during the current series and they all live with George's mother for a time.
  • 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.
  • Courtney Elliott (John Bird) is the Moles' friendly and slightly eccentric postman, who possesses a surprisingly impressive academic background.

There were one-off appearances from several other actors, including Tony Haygarth as Bernard Porke, the ill-mannered proprietor of the Rio Grande boarding house in Skegness, where the Moles stayed during a holiday; David Ryall as Mr Reginald Gudgeon, the well-meaning but inept manager of the local benefits office, Patrick Barlow as Mitchell Malone, the excitable local radio disc jockey and Lucy Benjamin as Sharon Bott.

Episodes[]

# Episode Writer Director Original airdate
1 Episode One: Falklands War Patrick Barlow Peter Sasdy 5 January 1987
2 Episode Two: Skating Rink Patrick Barlow Peter Sasdy 12 January 1987
3 Episode Three: Skegness Patrick Barlow Peter Sasdy 19 January 1987
4 Episode Four: Mum Gives Birth Patrick Barlow Peter Sasdy 26 January 1987
5 Episode Five: Reconciliation Patrick Barlow Peter Sasdy 2 February 1987
6 Episode Six: Church in Hull Patrick Barlow Peter Sasdy 9 February 1987

References[]

External links[]

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