News in 2008

Congratulations Howard! They say that life now begins, so here's to the next 40!

Wishing you all the best for a wonderful day, with many very happy returns! Parties going on here in the UK and in Italy to celebrate your big milestone!

Thank you to everyone who has donated to the Justgiving page we set up for Howard's Birthday, so far over £300 has been raised for FRODO (the Foundation for the Relief of Disabled Orphans). There's also a brilliant birthday present, with the news that Beautiful World Tour Live DVD is still at No 1 for the 9th week running!

Congratulations yet again to Take That!

For the 8th consecutive week Take That are proving that they certainly "Rule" the Music DVD Charts, as Beautiful World Live DVD is still No 1!

The guys are currently taking a break from Take That, pursuing individual projects, but we are all hoping that 2008 will see that second longed-for album! You can catch Howard at his DJing venues, details of which are listed on his Official Website.

Congratulations yet again to Take That!

For the 7th consecutive week Beautiful World Live DVD is No 1 in the DVD Music Charts!

This is absolutely brilliant news and is fitting testiment for the wonderful performances Take That gave to us all each night of their very hectic 49 date Tour!

The recent screening of the Tour on THE HITS has surely contributed to more people going out and buying their own copy to see the bits that the screening on THE HITS missed out. Here's hoping for more in the future!

Congratulations yet again to Take That!

Fantastic news to hear that Beautiful World Live DVD is No 1 in the DVD Music Charts for the 6th consecutive week!

The DVD had it's tv premiere this past weekend when it was screened on THE HITS (Channel 350 Sky and Channel 331 Virgin Media), as part of a "Boyband" feature.

Take That had a slot from 8.00 pm with Take That Top 10 (featuring their Top 10 music videos). This was followd at 9.00 pm by the screening of the Beautiful World Tour DVD, though not in full and the Channel edited it quite badly, missing out about half an hour of the performance.

Beautiful World Album has also re-entered the Album Charts, in at No 38! Congratulations yet again to Take That!

Howard is back out on the road DJing!

Please keep checking his official website and My Space for updates, new dates are being added all the time. Most dates are in Germany and Europe, but there are a few here in the UK.

If you are lucky enough to be able to get along please remember this is Howard in his own field, not as a member of Take That. Go along and enjoy the experience, not just because of the Take That connection! Some of us are planning to go to Hull because we've never seen Howard DJing before, we are sure it will be a wonderful night. We'll put up a report when we get back.

Can you believe it? Where has the time gone? TTAP is 12 years old today!

1st April 1996, we were all still reeling from the news that very soon Take That would be no more - only 4 days before they would make their last ever appearance as a group, in Amsterdam. What would there be after that? Yes there were boybands around, but none that could or would ever replace Take That. What would happen to Thatters? Where would they go? How could we all keep in touch?

These were the questions running around Julia Wharton's mind when sitting at home in the days after Take That announced they were splitting. Julia decided that she would have to go to Amsterdam, for that final performance but was there anything else that could be done to keep Thatters together? The answer was a resounding yes. Julia had been on the internet, a relatively new thing back in 1996, and had seen websites built by fans of other artists and so she sat down to begin work on one of her own, Take That - The Appreciation Pages. This would be a place for Thatters to keep in touch. 4 days before that final appearance TTAP was launched.

Following a major internet crash of the original Geocities site, Julia began to build the site again but because she was then fully committed with RWAP (Robbie Williams Appreciation Pages), she was unable to build the site but left an opening page with a counter and an information page. In May 1999, Jan noticed that the counter was going up, meaning that visitors were still coming to the site, so asked Julia if she could take on TTAP. Julia agreed and Jan set about designing a new TTAP, which would include a Message Board and other features. In 2006, marking the return of Take That on Tour, TTAP was given a complete face lift once again and the rest, as they say, is history!

Huge thanks to everyone go visits the site and takes part in our Discussion Forums! You are all stars! Thank you so much for helping to keep the dream alive for so long! For making that dream come true . . . . . Thank you Gary, Howard, Jason and Mark!

Congratulations to Gary, Howard, Jason and Mark!

They've done it again! Beautiful World Live DVD is still at No 1 for the fourth consecutive week in the Music DVD Charts.

Huge congratulations to Gary, Howard, Jason and Mark. This DVD is outstanding, and it definitely captures the spectacular performances, dancing and lighting effects so well. It is showing a lot of people what they missed by not going along to see the wonderful performances live! It will also mean that tickets for any future Tours will be that much harder to get because the demand will be phenomenol.

Capital Radio Awards for Help a London Child

The Awards continue for Take That! They won London's Favourite UK Group at the Capital Awards, which took place in London. The Award was presented by Beverley Knight, but the Fab Four were unable to attend the Awards in person. Instead, a pre-recorded video clip of Mark accepting the award on behalf of Take That was shown.

Runners-up for the Award were: Sugababes, Kaiser Chiefs and Girls Aloud. For a full report about the Awards, please click here.

Congratulations to Gary, Howard, Jason and Mark!

They've done it again! Beautiful World Live DVD is still at No 1 in the Music DVD Charts.

This makes it the 3rd week at No 1, having gone straight there in it's first week! Huge congratulations to Gary, Howard, Jason and Mark. This DVD is outstanding, and it definitely captures the spectacular performances, dancing and lighting effects so well. Thank you to all who took part to give us this wonderful extravaganza!

Beautiful World Live DVD still at No 1 for second week!

Huge congratulations to Take That yet again! They are still in the Music DVD Charts at No 1!. No doubt it will be there for another week at least, this is a great reflection on just how much Thatters enjoyed the Tour last year.

No news updates yet from Take That or Polydor on what may be coming up in the next year, but perhaps the guys deserve a bit of a break from us all for a while and hopefully then come back refreshed to do another wonderful album.

We just need to have a little patience and no doubt we will hear when they are ready.

Straight in at No 1 - Outselling No 1 Album!

Huge congratulations to Take That yet again! They have gone straight in at No 1 in the DVD Charts, with a record-breaking 64,000 copies sold in its first week! This is more than sale of the top Album!

The dream continues, here's hoping that it will encourage the guys to work on a new album, but in their own time. This is fantastic news and there is a full report on BBC News website. Please click here to go to the article.

Take That have come of age and finally the rest of the UK is finally seeing what we have all known for all of these years . . . . the best there is, the best there was, the best there always will be! Well done Gary, Howard, Jason and Mark!

RELEASED: Monday, 25th February 2008

From today we can all re-live the Beautiful World Tour! The Tour DVD was officially released in the UK today and is available at a major retailer near you now!

You can also buy the DVD Online, please click on the picture to go Play.Com, where it is on sale for just £13.99 with free post/packing. Also available at CD WOW for £12.99 plus post/packing and £13.98 plus post/packing from Amazon.Com

Check out the wonderful Reviews from fellow Thatters, in our Discussion Boards, click here to go to the Boards. There is also an excellent review in the Manchester Evening News tonight, click here to read.

It would be great to see this reach No 1 in this week's DVD Charts, it certainly deserves it! Tune in to Radio 1's Chart Show on Sunday, 2nd March 2008 from 5.00 pm.

A reminder for UK Thatters!

Thatters in Europe were lucky to have the DVD released today. There are some reviews on the Discussion Forums, in the Reports/Reviews section, if you want to know more!

In the meantime, here in the UK, we have to wait until Monday, 25th February!

It would be great to see the new DVD reach No 1 in the DVD Charts! Don't forget to enter the competition on TTTV to win your own private screening of the DVD at a VUE Cinema close to you. Click here for details. Good Luck Everyone!

Huge congratulations to Gary, Howard, Jason and Mark! 2 Brit Awards out of 4 nominations!

For the second year running they have won "Best British Single", this year with Shine! Fantastic news! Well done everyone who voted! WE DID IT!

This was their second Brit Award tonight. Their first was for Best Live Performance, so richly deserved. We were surprised when they weren't nominated in that category last year, it was deserved then too! So this year's Award means much more. Jason said that this perhaps was the one they secretly wanted to win because of all the work that went into the Tour and the wonderful support they had.

Yet again, Take That have another first - Best British Single two years running! They almost won Best British Group, which was one by Arctic Monkeys. Fern Cotton said that Take That came second and there were literally a handful of votes between Arctic Monkeys and Take That.

This must help the guys realise that they are still very much needed in the music industry! Keep it going guys, here's to 2009!

VOTE NOW: 09016 16 16 05

Brit Awards 2008 on ITV1 - 8 pm (GMT)

We've a feeling that this could be a very close run thing at the Brit Awards tonight! Please help us to give SHINE a final push!

It would be wonderful to see Take That walk off with Best British Single for the second year running! If you have MYSPACE, Facebook or Bebo, how about posting the number, letting all your friends and family know the number to call!

The number to ring is 09016 16 16 05. Phone voting continues right through it is anounced on the live broadcast that the lines have closed (expected to be around 9.10 pm).

The following statement is on the Brits Website regarding the cost of calls:-

Please note it is not possible to vote via SMS , the internet, red button or via email. Each phone vote costs 35p per call from a BT network landline in the UK. Calls from mobiles and other networks may be higher depending on your telephone provider's own tariffs and charges. Please ask permission from the bill payer before voting and please dial carefully and sensibly. There will be no refunds for the cost of any attempted calls or misdialled calls made.

To celebrate the launch of the Beautiful World Tour DVD, Take That TV has announced a competiton to win your own private screening for you and 100 friends at your local VUE Cinema Mulltiplex.

Please click on the picture to go to the special page that has been set up with full details of how you can enter. The competition closes on 7th March 2008. Alternatively, you can just click here to go to the page.

Good Luck everyone! If you don't win, you can always come along to our screening of the DVD, which takes place in Stratford-upon-Avon on 14th June, as advertised on our Discussion Forums.

CALL: 09016 16 16 05 for SHINE!

SHINE is now through to the Final 5 in the "Best British Single" Award Nominations! Well done everyone! This is brilliant news! Now the main push begins!

We need to start ringing in with our votes, the lines are now open. The number to ring is 09016 16 16 05. Phone voting continues right through until 20th February. Lines will close as announced during the live broadcast of The BRIT Awards on ITV on 20th February 2008 (expected to be around 21:10 GMT ).

The following statement is on the Brits Website regarding the cost of calls:-

"Please note it is not possible to vote via SMS , the internet, red button or via email. Each phone vote costs 35p per call from a BT network landline in the UK. Calls from mobiles and other networks may be higher depending on your telephone provider's own tariffs and charges. Please ask permission from the bill payer before voting and please dial carefully and sensibly. There will be no refunds for the cost of any attempted calls or misdialled calls made."

VOTING CLOSES AT 17:00 TODAY!

Well done everyone! Take That are through to the fourth round of the "Best British Single" Awards! We now have until 17:00 hrs today to vote again.

Please VOTE NOW to get them through to the final 5. Voting for the winner from the final 5 will then be by phoneline only on the night of the Brits (20th February 2008). The voting numbers will be revealed when the five shortlisted nominees have been chosen.

VOTE NOW! You have until 23:59 hrs

Excellent news! Take That are through to the third round of the "Best British Single" Awards! We now have until 23:59 hrs today to vote again.

Please VOTE NOW to get them through to the next fourth round, to get them into the final 5! The voting then continues as follows:-

VOTE NOW! You have until 23:59 hrs

The first round of the voting has now ended. Take That are through to the second round of the "Best British Single" Awards!

We now have until 23:59 hrs today to vote again. Please VOTE NOW to get them through to the next round! The voting then continues as follows:-

Exclusive -Tim Daniel Showcase!

We are delighted to announce that Tim Daniel will be performing an accoustic showcase of his new album at our St David's Day get-together in Cardiff!

Huge thanks to Tim, his management and Universal Records for this exclusive performance! Tim had a very successful stint, supporting Take That on Tour recently.

As thanks to Thatters for the wonderful support he received, Tim has offered to do this exclusive performance at our St David's Day party on Saturday, 2nd March, 2008 in Cardiff. We are really looking forward to this, please do check Tim's official website to hear samples of his work.

If you would like to come and join us for what promises to be a fantastic evening, please go to our Online Shop! Tickets are just £20 per person and this includes 2 course hot buffet and drink on arrival. Click here for further details. You don't have to be a Member of TTAP to come along - this event is open to Thatters, their families and friends!

Take That up for 4 Brits!

Vote Now for the first 2 of the 4! Best Live Act and Best British Single. Head on over to www.brits.co.uk

Best Live Act voting opens on 2nd February, but as yet it doesn't seem to have the link to vote! The voting is due to close on Saturday, 9th February, so keep on checking back to the link to see if it is up and running.

Don't forget to put in your for Shine as Best British Single, second round voting ends on 14th February 2008. Voting closes for each round as follows:

• Round One: 23:59 GMT 14th February 2008
• Round Two: 23:59 GMT 15th February 2008
• Round Three: 23:59 GMT 16th February 2008
• Round Four: 17:00 GMT 17th February 2008

The winner will be decided from the five remaining songs during the live broadcast of the BRIT Awards on 20th February 2008. CLICK HERE TO VOTE NOW!

Released: 25th February 2008

Check out Take That TV - there is a trailer of the Beautiful World Tour DVD!

"Beautiful World Live" is a two-disc DVD, showing footage of the Tour and behind the scenes. It's an excellent trailer, can't wait to get it!

To pre-order your copy, please click here! For more details about the DVD, including set list of the Tour performances, please go to the Take That TV News page (click here).

Release Date: 25th February 2008

Polydor have released more details about the DVD on the Take That TV Website.

"Beautiful World Live" is a two-disc DVD of the Beautiful World Tour 2007, showing footage of the Tour and behind the scenes. To pre-order your copy, please click here!

For more details about the DVD, including set list of the Tour performances, please go to the Take That TV News page (click here). If you didn't manage to get tickets to see Take That on Tour, or simply just want to relive all the wonderful memories of this amazing Tour, then this DVD is definitely for you!

Happy 36th Birthday Mark!

Happy Birthday Mark from everyone here at TTAP and Thatters Worldwide! We hope you are having a great day with your family, you've certainly earned it!

Instead of sending a present or card to Mark, we are asking Thatters to please donate to the Foundation for the Relief of Disabled Orphans. We are still waiting for the chaps to announce details about the new charity, so thought we would find a deserving alternative in the meantime.  We came across F.R.O.D.O. (The Foundation for the Relief of Disabled Orphans) which supports disabled orphans in developing countries.

Please do visit their website by clicking here to find out more about the work this wonderful charity does. We have set an initial target of £150 and, so far, the fund stands at £118.00.

This has certainly exceeded last years final total of £80, thank you all so much everyone, it would be great to see us reach that £150 target though! The page will be open for the next few months, so if you would like to donate, please click here!

Happy 37th Birthday Gary!

Wishing you a very happy birthday Gary, from everyone here at TTAP and Thatters Worldwide! We hope you are having a great day with your family, you've certainly earned it!

Instead of sending a present or card to Gary, we are asking Thatters to please donate to the Foundation for the Relief of Disabled Orphans. We are still waiting for the chaps to announce details about the new charity, so thought we would find a deserving alternative in the meantime.  We came across F.R.O.D.O. (The Foundation for the Relief of Disabled Orphans) which supports disabled orphans in developing countries.

Please do visit their website by clicking here to find out more about the work this wonderful charity does. We have set an initial target of £150, but Thatters have currently broken that target and the fund now stands at £162.00.

This has certainly exceeded last years final total of £122, thank you all so much everyone! The page will be open for the next few months, so if you would like to donate, please click here!

No word about this on the Official Website yet, but Amazon have the Beautiful World DVD on Pre-order, with a release date of Monday, 25th February 2008!

We've got a few on pre-order, which we will use as competition prizes, but we will also go out to the shops on the day and pick some up, just so we know we have bought them in time for that week's DVD charts!

There's a lovely message from Gary on his official website www.garybarlow.com updated on 15th January 2008.

Gary says he's currently in the studio working on a new project, keep checking his website for updates!

Also in his diary is a visit to Paris in February! Sounds interesting! It's really good to see all the guys working on individual projects as well as still being Take That. It seems Howard, Jason and Mark are currently away on holiday for a well earned rest!

This year's Brit Awards take place on 20th February 2008 at Earl's Court, London and will be broadcast live on ITV1.

Take That have been nominated in 4 Categories:

Best British Group
Best British Single (Shine)
Best British Album (Beautiful World)
Best Live Performance

Voting has already begun for Best Single. Multiple votes are allowed, but only your last vote will be counted. Voting closes for each round as follows:

• Round One: 23:59 GMT 14th February 2008
• Round Two: 23:59 GMT 15th February 2008
• Round Three: 23:59 GMT 16th February 2008
• Round Four: 17:00 GMT 17th February 2008

The winner will be decided from the five remaining songs during the live broadcast of the BRIT Awards on 20th February 2008. CLICK HERE TO VOTE NOW!

Oh what a night! The stars came out tonight to watch Take That perform at the Outward Bound Trust's "Undiluted Spirit" Ball and were they in for a real treat!

The Ball was held at London's Old Billingsgate, on the banks of the River Thames. The 1,300 guests gathered on the canopied red carpet, lit by beautiful gas flame lamps! Amongst them were celebrities such as Graham Norton, Angus Deayton, Linda Bellingham, Max Gifford, Andrew O'Neil, Robin Gibb, Beverley Knight, Christopher Biggins and others, whose names escape me! Celebrity and VIP guests went to one side of the entrance, other guests to the other. We were all treated to a champagne reception.

The room looked amazing, decorated with a black and white theme. Each table had a blue plastic globe, signed by Take That. These were part of a paper raffle for the table, each of us had to put our names on a £5 note and put it into an envelope. One of the Trust's helpers then came and picked a note out and if your name was on it, you won the Globe! It was won by a lady called Sarah on our table.

We sat down to a lovely 3 course dinner, cooked by the team from Jamie Oliver's "Fifteen" project. The starter was Clementine and Stilton, followed by chicken main course and then rhubarb, with pear and strawberry mousse. This was followed by the Auction of some amazing prizes, some of which went for £20,000+, including a trip for 6 in a helicopter to the Castle of Mey (former home of HM the Queen Mother). Take That put in a Lot, which was a dedication of How Deep is Your Love to the winning bidder. This reached a bid of £11,500!

At 11:45 pm (event ran late) Take That finally took to the stage. They were amazing! You would think they would be totally exhausted after 50 concerts already but no, they were absolutely spot on yet again. This is not the writer being very biased, but everyone, including celebrities was standing and singing along. It was a fantastic atmosphere. It proved that the guys don't need to be doing all the dancing and special effects to show off their fantastic talent.

Then the time came for them to perform "How Deep is Your Love". They were joined on stage by Robin Gibb, who says he has always been a fan of Take That and thinks Gary is a brilliant songwriter. It was wonderful to see him singing with Take That and the guys seemed extremely delighted too! Beverley Knight joined them on stage for "Relight My Fire" and towards the end of "Never Forget". Other songs performed were the Beatles Medley, Patience, Shine, Rule the World, Pray and Million Love Songs!

All too soon it came to an end, but it was a fabulous night. Thank you so much Take That yet again! There is no one can touch you for talent, professionalism and entertainment! Everyone was totally bowled over!

You can get a snippet of what went on by clicking here. There is a lovely short video on MSN News.

First Charts of 2008! Take That No 2!

Announced on Radio 1 Chart Show tonight, Beautiful World has come right back up the Album Charts and is currently at No 2, behind Radiohead, who came straight in at No 1 with their new album.

Congratulations yet again to Gary, Howard, Jason and Mark! What a great start to the New Year! Rule the World is No 5 in the Singles Chart, with Shine making another entrance in at 36! All this and a possible new album for later in the year!

Welcome 2008! Happy New Year!

We have archived all News from 2007 in the News (2007) Archive. Thank you all so much for supporting us again over the past 12 months, we hope you will like the improvements we are making to the site.

We are really looking forward to the next 12 months, with the possibility of another new album from Take That! They certainly gave a fantastic performance at the O2 Arena on New Year's Eve, here's looking forward to seeing them again as soon as they are ready!