2. How did you originally become familiar with the Film Shock Treatment, and were you already a fan of the Rocky Horror Show/ Picture show?

While I knew of Shock Treatment as one of those great lost sequels in cinema history, I'd never seen it before I got this job. In fact, I ended up reading the screenplay before watching the film, as research for my interview for the gig! I have to admit that I've never taken part in a Rocky Horror floor show, I've never brought a newspaper and a water gun, and I've never dressed up for a screening. I have, however, seen the show live - at a one-off performance at the University of York's Drama Barn, featuring none other than Shock Treatment's Nic Lamont as Magenta, funnily enough. Of course, as for everybody else, Rocky Horror has always marked a pivotal point in my understanding of the history of horror, comedy and musical cinema in the 20th Century, not to mention a huge leap forward in the depiction of trans and queer imagery in pop culture. To be honest, it wasn't until I watched Rocky again as research for Shock Treatment that I had that moment of connection with it - then, with my notebook out, picking out the detail of it to plunder for the script, I first really appreciated how stunning the design is, how incredible the performances, and what a unique and mysterious sense of humour it employs.

3. How did it come about that you were approached to adapt Shock Treatment for the stage?

I'm afraid it's somewhat unromantic - I got hired! More specifically, I've been involved with the King's Head Theatre in several different capacities before. Firstly, I'd participated in their Trainee Director scheme (Assistant Stage Managing for Verdi's Ballo in Maschera and then Assistant Directing on Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off), then they were kind enough to let me stage my play Ghost City as a work-in-progress in October 2013, then necessity dictated I take a job there working as a box office manager, so I suppose I was on the radar generally. Then when it became clear that Shock Treatment was a go, I got a call from Adam Spreadbury-Maher, the Artistic Director, asking if I'd like to meet with Benji, the Director. Benji and I seemed to see eye-to-eye about what the adaptation needed and I was sent off to get to work.

4. Where there any restraints placed upon you as to what could or could not be altered from the original book?

When I first took the job, I was given a brief story outline for the abridged plot and cast of characters, which I tweaked and expanded upon for approval by Benji before I began drafting, so there was a guide in place for me already, which was enormously helpful. What's more, the basic story had already been agreed with O'Brien and Hartley, so I knew I'd be heading in the right direction for them. Beyond that, I had no limitations imposed beyond trying to put together the best script possible. There are a few points where I've included lines from the original or nods to it, partly as in-jokes for the fans, but partly because I felt that as a script, it needed some of the myth of the movie in it, perhaps to broaden the sense of the world it takes place in, or perhaps to conjure up some kind of cosmic blessing on the project.

5. About how long did the whole process take from a writing aspect?

For me, the longest part of the writing process is the gestation, which incorporates planning, notes, research and generally letting the thing settle in your brain so that you're ready to begin work. So from that perspective, I started writing it just before I met Benji to interview for the job. What's more, with all the tiny script tweaks and edits for staging in rehearsal, my work didn't really finish until about two weeks before the show went up. So I'd say all-in-all, about a six month journey. But if you're more traditional about this sort of thing, the first draft took two weeks.

6. What were some of the key elements you looked for in the original material to start building the structure of the new work?

The satirical agenda was a real focus for me, as it was for Benji, and beyond that, it was a case of trying to retain all the manic energy and character of the film while trying to pick out a more straightforward spine of a story to hang it all on. A big point of inspiration for me came from the screenplay that became Shock Treatment, The Brad and Janet Show, wherein the major (no pun intended) factor in Brad and Janet's marital difficulties was that Janet had just been promoted at the local TV studio and Brad had just lost his job. This idea for a starting point, which has been adapted heavily for our stage interpretation, gave me a real sense of where Brad and Janet were on their journey together when we meet them at the beginning of Shock Treatment.

7. In the show there is a lot of new dialog and narrative. For you, where did the adaptation end and the original work begin?

Pretty much as soon as I created the document for the first draft. As Benji and I had been swapping notes on the outline, including a few points where I'd suggested we could bring in lines from the film or references to Rocky, the whole thing was laid out for me, so all I needed to do was make it happen. From then on, although I was keeping an eye on the original screenplay in case there was anything I could incorporate into the new story, all I had to think about was characters and jokes.

8. Does working on something that already has a built in fan base make your job harder when considering that the audience will have favorite lines of dialog and characters that may have to be cut from the new version, or was that something you couldn’t take into consideration when writing?

Yes, to be honest, I put it far, far away from my thoughts as much as I could. Which didn't really take that much effort, as it was such an exciting prospect that it didn't quite seem real to begin with. I was more worried about what Richard O'Brien and Richard Hartley would make of it once it was written, but the fact that they'd be reading my work hadn't quite sunk in, either. Then, by the time the fans were in to see it, I was so in love with the band and the cast that I knew they'd enjoy it, however much I'd spoiled it, so I wasn't too worried then, either. However, in a less emotional sense, you can't put the fans completely out of your head when you're tinkering with something from the world of Rocky Horror. All I tried to do was be faithful to the tone and the spirit of the original film, whilst also trying to capture a bit of the magic that Rocky had, and produce the best script I could. I have to mention Benji, as well, as a dyed-in-the-wool Rocky fanatic who also has an eye for the wider audience, he was the best guidance I could have asked for in building an adaptation that everybody would enjoy.

9. Out of all the colourful characters in the film, how did you choose to focus on Ralph as a major thrust to the narrative?

That was actually in the abridged story agreed on by Benji, Richard and Richard! I think the idea came about because Benji was keen to give Breakin' Out more of a function in the story - it's a fantastic coming-out song, but there's no plot thread to support it as such in the original film. I loved the idea, especially as it foregrounded Betty and Ralph as one of the adaptation's three dysfunctional couples. What's more, whereas Brad and Janet are our audience insertion point (that sounds filthier than I meant it to), Ralph is our sympathetic window on the world of TV corruption and ambition. I absolutely loved Ralph while I was writing it, partly as seething repressed sexual longing is always funny.

10. When translating your script to the stage was there anything that needed to be changed or had to be toned down due to budget?

Not particularly! The script I wrote has been pretty faithfully put up on stage - we were always aiming to create a show that would fill a fringe venue like the King's Head as full as it could get with set, costume, lighting and so on. If the show transfers, well, that's another story, and we'll certainly do all we can to make sure we make as much use of the next venue as this one. The only change that came about due to production was Farley - the people we were looking at casting were of hugely different backgrounds and ages, so Benji suggested that we make Farley more mercurial, more of a force of nature. As such, we made his origins less specific and his ambition more global. In the end, Mark Little's done such an incredible job of capturing the charisma and megalomania of the character, plus lending it a particularly pointed angle since he's Australian (cough Murdoch cough) that I think it was a very good decision. Now I can't wait to see what the next guy does with it!

11. The characters all seem to have a slightly different flavour then their original counterparts. How difficult was it to find their new voices?

It was definitely a hefty job trying to adapt the characters to their new surroundings - except in the case of Cosmo and Nation. They came fully formed, to me, off the back of Richard O'Brien and Pat Quinn's performances. They developed kind of more submissive and dominant energies as I wrote the script (interpret that however you like) but otherwise they felt like I'd been given a free gift to play with. Otherwise I looked at how they could best fit the new story, rather than working from the screenplay. Ralph has completely changed, obviously, he's our only total reinvention, but Betty's considerably brassier and more independent as she's the detective hero of the piece. Brad and Janet were my major (I can't stop doing it) focus, though, I wanted to see our pals from Rocky Horror back again and I couldn't see them in the film, I couldn't join the dots. So, looking at where they are in their lives in Shock Treatment and comparing that with how they start out in Rocky, I tried to convey a slightly older, slightly bruised Brad and Janet who've been ground down by work and the struggle of maintaining a relationship.

12. If 100 writers separately wrote a script for Shock Treatment. We would have a 100 different takes on it. We have heard from Richard O’Brien his thoughts on his version. To you, what are your thoughts on Denton, DTV and whom these wacky cast of characters are?

I've covered this a bit in some other questions, but more broadly, getting to write about Denton and the world of Rocky Horror conjured up a lot of really important comic influences for me. The one that kept coming to mind was Steve Purcell's Sam & Max comics, some of the most brilliant, demented works of humour ever committed to paper, saturated in truck stop Americana and snappy screwball dialogue. Likewise, Airplane! and Police Squad and all the early Zucker material has always been a totemic inspiration to me whenever approaching any comedy writing job, it's just sublime. I also kept thinking about Network and the 'you've got to get mad' speech, and all that vein of 1970s media paranoia fiction. There were plenty of other influences that popped into my head, but I was mainly excited that I was getting to write the screwy all-American spoof that I didn't realise I'd always wanted to.

13. A question that has already been asked of you I’m sure is, when will a Soundtrack, DVD, Blu ray, or Imax release happen. Can the fans look forward to the musical hitting any forms of home media?

The last I've heard, we're currently looking into the logistics of doing a cast recording, and looking at where the show can go next. Other than that we're casting our next Farley (nothing confirmed as yet, watch this space, true believers) and keeping the King's Head run on the road. We've currently got no plans for a filmed version of the show, but who knows what might happen further down the line?

14. What are the current plans for Shock Treatment – The Musical when it ends it’s run at the King’s Head?

Again, that remains to be seen. All we need is the right venue which understands the show and gets it to a bigger audience.

15. Is there anything you would like to add?

Just enormous thanks to both the Shock Treatment and Rocky Horror fan community internationally for all their early grass roots support for the show! Having all the Berts and Nations and Cosmos in for the first previews, bringing all their energy and affection, really lifted the performances and helped us to feel that the show had properly found its feet. It was a joy to go into this crazy thing with them on our side.

16. And lastly, where does Tom Crowley Go from here? Do you have anything currently in the works?

If anybody wants to venture into the King's Head again for some more inspired comedy, I'm currently directing a work-in-progress production of David K Barnes' fantastic play Monster Hunters with my company Crowley & Co. (crowleynco.com, @crowleynco). That's on at 3pm on Saturday 23rd May, Saturday 30th May and Thursday 4th June at the King's Head. We're just going into rehearsals and the cast is sensational, it should be a real treat. Also my comedy group, Sad Faces, are taking a show to Edinburgh this year called Sad Faces present The Dawn Chorus, so look out for that at Underbelly at 4:40pm every day of the Festival (wearesadfaces.com) - otherwise, follow me on Twitter at @crowleeey for any other odds and sods that I'm getting up to.

The Official Shock Treatment Fan Club Would like to thank Tom Crowley for taking time out of his busy schedule to do this interview and continued success in all his endeavours.