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