The makers of the documentary everyone is talking about are celebrating one of the most successful television shows of the year.

Take That ... For The Record, filmed by Brighton producer David Notman-Watt, drew an average of 5.7 million viewers on Wednesday, the kind of audience figures some soap operas can only dream of.

The programme, which peaked at 6.1 million viewers, charted the rise and fall of one of Britain's biggest pop groups and had exclusive access to the five men at the centre of a musical phenomenon.

Mr Notman-Watt, founder of Brighton-based company Back2Back Productions, said he knew he was on to a winner before the broadcast.

He said: "I'm totally chuffed about the reaction the show got.

"When the ITV commissioning editor saw it, she thought it was going to be a massive show and compared it to Tantrums and Tiaras, the Elton John documentary. But I think even she's been taken aback by the numbers.

"I heard today that people have been having Take That parties. Groups of women in their early 30s have been getting together with bottles of wine to watch the show. It's fantastic."

When Mr Notman-Watt first received the call asking him to work as writer and director on the documentary, he was hesitant about the project.

It was only after meeting former band members, Gary Barlow, Robbie Williams, Mark Owen, Howard Donald and Jason Orange, that he knew the film could go ahead.

He said: "It was the banter between all the boys that was fantastic and their humour jumped out at me the most.

"The story of their split is really tragic. They were supposed to be the guys next door but you see this film and realise they enjoyed themselves."

For the first time, the former members revealed all about their success, Williams' departure and their decision to split.

There were revelations about the band's lifestyle, including drink and drug-use, which emerged as filming got under way to mark the tenth anniversary of Williams' departure.

In their heyday Take That were compared to The Beatles after a string of number one hits, success in America and record-breaking sales.

But in one disturbing admission, Donald, now a father working as a club DJ, admitted he contemplated suicide when the band decided to split in 1996.

Donald told Mr Notman-Watt: "I was not ready for it, I didn't want Take That to finish, I was really disappointed.

"I decided to walk out of the hotel and go to the Thames and I was seriously thinking about jumping."

The beginnings of Williams' alcohol and drug addiction were exposed in the film when the singer revealed how he began drinking bottles of vodka when he was still performing with Take That.

The band's manager Nigel Martin-Smith recalled having to coax the singer out of bed to appear at an awards ceremony following an evening of celebrations with a supermodel.

When Take That split, a helpline had to be set up for distraught fans and the former band members were soon facing their own difficulties trying to adjust to life after the group.

Mr Notman-Watt had only two or three days to meet each of the five, interviewing all of them, except Williams, at home.

He said: "All the group felt a line needed to be drawn under Take That.

"The story was already there and I tried to allow them to tell it.

"This was a golden opportunity to be handed as a film-maker, the guys have never had a chance to talk about this before. Regardless of what you think about Take That, the film captures a beautiful moment in British pop."