The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole - Complete Series
2x DVD - contains all 7 episodes, PAL, Regions: 2, 4,

A considerable cast of characters were on hand for the TV adaptation of the first Mole book, and each played their part well, weaving in and out of Adrian's confused teenage years. His parents Pauline and George were forever embarrassing him and exhausting the realms of marital strife. Pauline found herself a new partner, Mr Lucas, whom Adrian considered creepy (indeed he nicknamed him 'Creep' Lucas) so George also acquired a new partner, Doreen Slater, whom Adrian nicknamed 'Stick Insect' on account of her slender figure - until, that is, she became pregnant and (in the second series) delivered a baby, finally bringing to an end Adrian's only-child status. Pauline, meanwhile, in a perfect example of how Adrian was always an afterthought for his warring parents, threatened to dump him at the DHSS office if she didn't receive one of her Giro cheques. Adrian's grandmother (excellently played by Beryl Reid, once again affecting a Brummie accent) offered some stability but her befuddled, down-to-earth encouragement often caused him great discomfort. Pandora Braithwaite was Adrian's abiding passion (hence the TV theme music, Ian Dury's 'Profoundly In Love With Pandora', a minor hit on the charts); like all early teenage romances theirs was all talk and little action - he chased and she was chaste - Pandora refusing point blank to show Adrian one of her nipples, for example, after he realised, to his horror, that he'd never seen one before. ('This is what comes of living in a cul-de-sac,' he diarised.) Their mutual attempts at sincerity were nonetheless touching, and they were never discouraged by either set of parents, Pandora's being Ivan and Tania.

Pandora often helped Adrian to tend and shop for Bert Baxter, an 89-year-old to whom Mole was a reliable aide. The youngsters never seemed to mind Bert's earthy manner ('I'd give me right ball to go to Skeggy,' he once declared, choosing Skegness as his ideal choice of holiday venue) or his penchant for eating pickled beetroot straight from the jar. Bert's wife, Queenie, was similarly direct. At school, Adrian had a best friend, Nigel, but risked altercations with the bully Barry Kent (who was easily tamed by Adrian's grandma, however) and by Mr Scruton, nicknamed Popeye, the Thatcher-adoring headmaster.

CAST

Gian Sammarco, Julie Walters, Lulu

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