Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction joke in the book is that Adrian does not know whether Mr Carlton-Hayes' partner Leslie is a man or a woman; this is never made clear. Although they are from different backgrounds, he and Adrian share an appreciation of literature, contempt for Michael Flowers, and a similar reservation about expressing their feelings. It is revealed in that Leslie is a man and implied they both left their wives for their relationship. Pauline is Adrian's mother, and plays less of a role in the story than in previous books. Like Adrian, Pauline is inclined to spend using money she hasn't got.
Saul of the Mole Men capsule. Saul soon finds himself in an underground world populated by "Mole Men" and "Bird Bats" as well as unexplained characters like "The Floating Pancake" and "Chinacula", a cape-wearing Chinese vampire. Though cut off from the surface world, Saul is elated, believing he will find evidence beneath the surface for his theory that there are sentient rocks descended from a huge "mother rock". Terrified by the Mole Men, Saul impulsively impales their king using the STRATA transmitter. The king eventually dies, touching off a power struggle between his two sons – the older (but corpulent and corrupt) Bertrum Burrows, and