Relight the fire: Take That plan one-off comeback

The group, whose hits included "Could it be Magic" and "Relight My Fire", was led by Gary Barlow, with Mark Owen, Howard Donald, Jason Orange and Robbie Williams.

Only Williams has sustained a solo career, officially launching his new album, Intensive Care, to 7,000 German fans last night. The record, being released by EMI on 24 October, was recorded in his house in the Hollywood hills, and is co-written by Duran Duran founder Stephen Duffy. But the first single from the album, "Tripping", failed to reach No. 1 in Britain yesterday, as Sugababes sold more copies of their single "Push the Button".

Williams is reported to have agreed to take part in the concert, despite an acrimonious split from the group in 1995..

A television show that will chronicle the Take That era will be shown on ITV at Christmas, with interviews from the old bandmates.

Gary Barlow now writes for other artists, while Mark Owen won Celebrity Big Brother in 2002. Jason Orange is now an actor and Howard Donald a DJ.

Take That had a total of eight No.1 hits in the British singles chart and the success of the band as both an act and a formulaic format inspired a cycle of manufactured Pop acts that came to dominate the UK music industry of the next decade. They sold more than 9 million albums and 10 million singles.