Shot at Dorney Rowing Lake near Eton back in July, Take That row back into action with this superb Mat Whitecross-directed promo for big ‘welcome back Robbie we missed you’ single The Flood.

“The original idea for the video came from the band – they wanted to do ‘Chariots of Fire meets Forrest Gump’, a timeless rowing race,” explains Whitecross. “It needed to feel like an event – something epic to bring the band back together again after all these years.

“We got in touch with a National Rowing Team Trainer, and he said to get the band rowing even at a basic level he’d need to work with them for 3 months solid. We told him we had 2 hours the night before the shoot. Within seconds, one of the band had capsized in the lake and we all started freaking out. But the boys were troopers – they threw themselves into the shoot without any complaints. I knew they had a really good reputation, but they were so patient and lovely they made a tricky shoot a real joy.

“Logistically it was all a bit of a nightmare. My producer Mark lost weeks of sleep trying to get permission and insurance for one of the biggest UK bands to row past the Houses of Parliament at the crack of dawn, tailed by a low-flying helicopter with 2 safety boats in tow. But the band were adamant they wanted to do it for real.

“I’m so glad they pushed for it. It’s always better than trying to fake it in post. Every day brought another disaster – we ended up abandoning the final part of the shoot after the boat hit a rock and sank. If we’d known how difficult it would be to shoot on water, I think we’d have ended up doing the whole thing in the studio…”

Take That
The Flood (Polydor)
Director: Matt Whitecross
Production Company: Between The Eyes @ Pulse
Representation: OBmanagement
Producer: Mark Harbour
Prod Manager: Davina Abrahams
Exec. Producer: Ben Pugh
DP: Ed Wild
1st AD: Rawdon De Fresnes
2nd AD: Tony Evgeniou
Art Director: Richard Bullock
Hair/Make-up: Liz Taw
Stylist: Luke Day
Offline: Joe Guest at Final Cut
Telecine: Rushes
Commissioners: Ross Anderson, Carrie Sutton
Watch: here