Are you a child of the nineties? If the answer to that question is yes, then the likelihood is that you fell into one of a number of camps, musically speaking. There was Britpop, of course (and, within that, subsets existed, but the overarching question always came down to this: Team Blur or Team Oasis. To which the correct answer will always be Team Blur, obviously). There was grunge (who didn’t love Nirvana?). There was Hip Hop, Trip Hop, Jungle, R&B… and the list goes on. But there was one other genre which has endured but, arguably, has never been as good as it was in those heady days: the boy band. And, when it comes to it, there was really only ever one genre-defining act. That act consisted of five northern lads who went by the name of Take That.

For anyone who was a youth in the nineties, to admit to liking TT back then was deeply uncool. Some more enlightened teens shrugged their indifference to this decree from the gods of cool and became fully paid-up fans anyway. The rest of us waited for the band’s split, followed by its reformation (minus Robbie Williams for the most part), to realise what we had been missing all along. More fool us. Nostalgia? Perhaps. But who doesn’t feel good belting out a rousing chorus of Never Forget? Gary Barlow’s song writing has, we can admit now, entered the music hall of fame to be mentioned in the same breath as that of Elton John.



Which is where Greatest Days, the new film based on Take That’s jukebox musical, comes in. Directed by Coky Giedroyc and written by Tim Firth (Calendar Girls), it comes out on 16 June and, well, suffice to say, us TT late converts are excited.

Sure, like many films of its ilk – case in point: Mama Mia – it looks suitably daft. The story lines to these sorts of films can often end up being a bit thin since plot is simply a framework upon which to hang all the greatest hits. And yet, despite the possible silliness, the trailer reveals a poignant look at a group of five school friends who were once huge Take That fans and are now reuniting 25 years later to see the band perform once more.

Starring Aisling Bea, the film has been executive produced by Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald, the three remaining members of the band. They say, ‘Greatest Days is a film dedicated to all those who have supported us throughout the years. It puts a mirror on our audience – it's a celebration of our music but it's literally all about the fans and their friendships.

‘Our fans have been on a 30-year journey with us and we have an incredibly strong bond with them, so seeing that they will be represented on screen by such a strong, talented cast is incredibly exciting.’

The boys from Manchester have, by now, proven time and again that they have the staying power that many others from the era did not. This movie underlines once more the fact that they are indeed back for good.

By Nancy Alsop
May 2023