1. The Trouble with Sex

Adrian has his first experiences of birth and death.

He soldiers bravely on through the many challenges that life throws at him, and wins a place in our hearts with his charming naivety.

Sue Townsend's exquisitely funny and heart-breaking chronicle of a teenager now aged 15 - growing up in the Midlands in the 1982.

Adrian's parents are back together and his mother is pregnant, much to Adrian's surprise and embarrassment.

As the summer holidays begin, Adrian is still troubled by his spotty skin, but he continues to feel that his intellectual prowess sets him apart from his peers. His aspirations for poetic fame and fortune are undimmed.

While his mother heads off with her women's group to Greenham Common, Adrian's own interest in politics starts to grow, alongside his dislike for Margaret Thatcher.

As his parents struggle to make ends meet and sort out their differences, Adrian enjoys a more settled relationship with Pandora but is eager to move things on a stage further.

Abridged in five parts by Sara Davies.

Read by Harry McEntire.

Producer: Alexa Moore

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in July 2018.