Posted in: BBC, TV | Tagged: Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole

The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 Set for BBC Series Adapt

The BBC has greenlit a new 10-part series adaptation of Sue Townsend's classic comedic book The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4.

The BBC has commissioned a new version of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ from Big Talk Studios (Ludwig, The Outlaws) for BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Based on Sue Townsend's best-selling book of the same name, the 10-part series is adapted for the screen by David Nicholls (One Day, Us), who will also serve as lead writer. An entire generation of British kids grew up on the antics of the hapless, clueless Adrian Mole before Harry Potter came along. He's a lot more fun than Harry Potter, that's for sure. Between 1985 and 2014, Adrian Mole frequently appeared in various forms across British media as Sue Townsend's comedic foil, reacting satirically to the world's events of the time, until her passing in 2014.

The adaptation will also be written by Caitlin Moran and Caroline Moran (Raised By Wolves), Dillon Mapletoft and Oliver Taylor (Everyone Else Burns), and Jack Rooke (Big Boys). A nationwide casting search is currently underway to find Adrian, led by multi-award-winning casting director Robert Sterne (The Crown, Game of Thrones), and complete casting will be announced in due course, but this already feels like a more prestigious, leveled-up adaptation of the book compared to the original TV version from 1985.

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ marks the return of an iconic British character to our screens. It's New Year's Day 1981, and Adrian starts his uniquely funny diary about family life and being a teenager before the advent of mobile phones and social media. With only a multi-coloured ballpoint pen as his guide, Adrian worries about his spots, his parents' divorce, the torment of first love, and the fact that he's never seen a female nipple. Well, he has – when he was breastfeeding as a baby, he just doesn't remember!

As Adrian's mother, Pauline, wrestles with her feminist awakening, his father, George, struggles with being made redundant in an unforgiving economy. Adrian's wider world is made up of a host of memorable characters like his 'treacle-haired beloved' Pandora, his take-no-prisoners Grandma, and his unlikely friend, the foul-mouthed pensioner Bert Baxter. This vivid portrait of suburban life in Britain shows how much we have changed while staying the same. The result is a timeless family drama that is as warm and funny as it is sad and poignant.

David Nicholls shared, "I happen to be just a little older than Adrian and have adored this book since reading it on publication. It's a classic piece of comic writing and an incredible piece of ventriloquism on Sue Townsend's part – how did she know? Adapting Adrian for the screen is an absolute pleasure."

"The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole is one of those rare, seminal stories that has captivated generation after generation. David Nicholls has brilliantly distilled the wit, warmth, and quiet poignancy of Sue Townsend's iconic novel, reminding us why Adrian's voice remains as sharply relevant today as it was in the 1980s. Times may have changed, but the anxieties, ambitions, and wonderfully awkward truths at the heart of Adrian's world are utterly timeless. Kenton and the team at Big Talk have brought together an exceptional group of writers who, alongside David, have crafted a series that honours the spirit of the original, while opening the door for a whole new audience to fall in love with Adrian Mole," Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, added.

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ will have ten half-hour episodes. Sue Townsend wrote a total of eight novels that took Adrian Mole into chaotic and dysfunctional adulthood, fatherhood, middle age, divorce, even grandparenthood, and surviving cancer in 2009 before she passed away.

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