Just like me, Adrian Mole author Sue Townsend was ahead of her time

As the Comedy Women in Print prize posthumously commemorates the beloved writer, comedian Helen Lederer celebrates her brilliant wit.

Inside Leicester's comedy scene

Pun fights in boxing rings, nine-year-old stand-ups and a 19-day joke-a-thon ... anything goes in vibrant, diverse Leicester, finds our writer as she continues her comedy tour.

Adrian Mole musical hits the West End

Adrian Mole the musical opens in the West End on Saturday. Author Sue Townsend's novel of the puzzled and perplexed pupil aged 13¾ has sold more than 20 million copies since it was first published in 1982. After seven years development in regional theatre it opens for a three-month run at the Ambassadors Theatre in London on 15 June. We've been to meet one of the four child actors playing the lead role.

Adrian Mole musical to return for West End run

The musical inspired by Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole has announced it will return to the stage after two years for a run in the West End.

Stephen Russell's comedy-drama is based on the novel and play by Sue Townsend, and stars David Walliams as a newly elected People's Republican party PM, whose first move is to oust the royals. The clan have to adapt to life in northern cul-de-sac "Hell Close". Funny and provocative, just as Townsend intended.

New Adrian Mole commissions celebrate 50 years of R4

Radio 4 plans to broadcast new serialisations of all the Adrian Mole books in the coming years, "reflecting some of the major social changes of the last fifty years through the satirical prism of this much-loved character", said the broadcaster.

The enduring appeal of Adrian Mole, aged 50

Adrian Mole, the angst-ridden diarist created by the late Sue Townsend, reaches his 50th birthday on 2 April. His diaries, over eight volumes, made Townsend one of the best-selling British authors of recent decades. But what made the character so compelling?

Penguin publishes Adrian Mole's collected poetry

Penguin is publishing The Collected Poems by Adrian Mole - in the character's own "imprint" Mole Press - to celebrate the 50th birthday of Sue Townsend's creation.

Adrian Mole musical to premiere in Leicester next year

A new musical based on Sue Townsend's The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ will receive its world premiere at Curve in Leicester, following a workshop last year.