Return of the famous five

IT IS A Tuesday morning and an air of eager anticipation fills the ballroom at the Savoy hotel in London.

Europe’s media are gathered for a press conference at which Take That, now returned to their original five-piece line-up, will make something grandly billed as an Exclusive Announcement.

It’s hard not to think that the air of eager anticipation might be more potent had Robbie Williams, displaying the shy reticence that’s long been his trademark, not blithely told a tabloid weeks ago that he and Take That would shortly be making an Exclusive Announcement about a major tour in support of their new album, Progress.