Believe it or not, way back in 2015, the TT races inspired a rock musical.

After a few years of work, ‘Twist and Turn - The Musical’ was launched via showcase performances to full houses at The Other Palace in London in October 2018.

Audience feedback from the original performances highlighted where the book (script) needed to be revised as well as which songs were more popular than others with the audience.

Work began during 2019 on re­writes of the book for a further stage production of the show, along with new songs being written.

The show was created by Tony Gibbs, the former chief executive of the National Operatic and Drama Association, who is highly familiar with the Isle of Man and the TT.

When theatres then closed at the beginning of the pandemic, Tony realised there was no point in planning a further stage version at that time, and so he decided instead to tell the story of the musical through the pages of a graphic novel instead.

So, in April 2020, Tony teamed up with illustrator Vincent Danks whose impressive track record includes work with Marvel UK, and runs creating Doctor Who and Torchwood graphic novels.

When the two first met (virtually, due to lockdown) Tony recalled: ‘I asked Vince if he’d like to work with me on a graphic novel of a musical, to which he replied that he didn’t know anything about musicals.

‘My answer was that was okay - as I didn’t know anything about graphic novels!’

Twist and Turn - The Musical, is now therefore a genuine multi-­media show, as alongside the graphic novel, the original songs are still knocking around, as well as newly-produced podcasts to accompany the whole production.

The original 2018 showcase songs were co-­written by Tony with Graeme Duffin of the band Wet Wet Wet and Esther and Tim O’Connor of the band Ashton Lane.

The old soundtrack has been updated and added to, formulating a whole new set of songs for people to get their ears around.

Indeed, the newer songs have seen Tony working with record producer Sandy Jones, as well as Scotsh musical superstar, Donna Hazelton, and award­-winning singers in Australia and Scotland to record several new songs – all remotely – which are streaming on all major platforms.

I spoke to Tony about the process of putting the musical on the page, and why the island and the TT races are such a source of inspiration.

He said: ‘I was inspired to do this because I fell in love with the place. It’s a very inspiring place to be.

‘The whole story within Twist and Turn - it’s a fantasy drama, it’s about the lead up to the TT, it’s about an all-female team planning to take part, it’s got these elements of Manx mythology - but it’s very much my love letter to the island, because I do think it’s a fantastic place.

‘Given those elements of TT and mythology, I’ve tried to make it entertaining which is first and foremost what people need, I believe, coming out of the pandemic.

‘They want something to step out of all the doom and gloom, something that will cheer them up a bit, and so hopefully, because of the different strands - if you like graphic novels, rock music, listening to podcasts - there’s something for everybody, and hopefully it gives them some entertainment.

‘The fact that the TT itself is back is amazing.’

Get your copy at twistandturnthemusical.com/graphic-novel/