Wikipedia

Rob Grant

Robert Grant (25 September 1955 – 25 February 2026) was an English comedy writer, television producer and co-creator of the Red Dwarf comedy franchise. After Red Dwarf, Grant wrote two television series, The Strangerers and Dark Ages, and four solo novels, his last being Fat. During his career Grant was involved in two distinct writing partnerships: the first with Doug Naylor - known as Grant Naylor - and the second with Andrew Marshall.

Rob Grant
Grant in 2004
Grant in 2004
Born
Robert Grant

(1955-09-25)25 September 1955
Salford, Lancashire, England
Died25 February 2026(2026-02-25) (aged 70)
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • screenwriter
  • television producer
Alma materLiverpool University
Period1982–2026 (his death)
Genre
  • Comedy
  • drama
  • adventure
  • science fiction
Website
robgrant.co.uk

Life and career

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Grant was born in Salford on 25 September 1955. He met future collaborator Doug Naylor at Chetham's Hospital School, which he attended from the age of nine.[1] The pair later studied Psychology at Liverpool University for two years, before both dropping out to pursue a writing career, while doing shift work.[2][3]

After providing a variety of comedy material on a freelance basis, the pair were hired to a staff writer position for BBC Radio, working on programs such as the sketch shows Cliché and Son of Cliché, the original sitcom Wrinkles, and the topical show The News Huddlines.[3]

In 1982 the duo started to also work in television, with a job on Three of a Kind, leading to them meeting producer Paul Jackson, and contributing towards Carrott's Lib. In 1984 they began work on an original television sitcom pilot, based on a sketch from Son of Cliché, Red Dwarf. The BBC initially declined to commission the show and instead Grant and Naylor took a position as head writers on Spitting Image, joining midway through the first season. Apart from sketchwriting, Grant would, with Naylor, write the lyrics to Spitting Images's "The Chicken Song", which topped the UK singles chart for three weeks in 1986.[3][4]

In 1986, the BBC would eventually pick up Red Dwarf, with a commission from BBC North West. A first series, after some production delays, would be broadcast in 1988, and was followed by another later that year. Grant and Naylor became producers of the show from its third series in 1989, and in a short period collaborated on two novelisations of Red Dwarf, travelled for work on an American spin-off, and worked on four more British series. They would also work together on a new sitcom set in a theatrical agency called The 10%ers.[3]

By the time of series one of The 10%ers, Grant had broken up the writing partnership with Naylor. Grant himself later described this decision as being "basically 'musical differences'", and would also say he "didn't want Red Dwarf to the only thing on [his] tombstone".[5][6]

Grant would create two more television comedies, being ITV's Dark Ages (1999), and Sky One's The Strangerers (2000). He would write four solo science fiction novels, starting with a Red Dwarf novel, Backwards (1996), Colony, Incompetence and Fat.

In the 2010s Grant started a new collaboration with Andrew Marshall, previously writer on 1990s British sitcom 2point4 Children. Together they would produce, direct and write The Quanderhorn Xperimentations[2] for BBC Radio 4, along with a novelisation published by Gollancz, and then also a sketch show called The Nether Regions.[7]

Grant also began re-engaging with Red Dwarf in the late 10s. He would appear at a Red Dwarf convention in 2018, and then with Paul Jackson and director Ed Bye provided the Quarantine Commentaries of the first three series of Red Dwarf during the 2020 coronvirus lockdown. In February, 2021, a short Red Dwarf script, Into the Gloop, which was performed live via Zoom as part of the Official Red Dwarf Fan Club's Holly Hop convention.[8]

A legal dispute over the Red Dwarf rights was resolved in 2023.[9], and a prequel spin-off, Red Dwarf: Titan, to be written by Grant with Marshall, would be announced soon thereafter.[10] This would be formally announced as a novel on 19 February 2026, to be published in July 2026.[11] Grant died suddenly less than a week later on 25 February 2026, at the age of 70. His death was announced the following day.[12][1]

Filmography

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Year Production Credits Notes Ref.
1982 Carrott's Lib Writer [a] [13]
1984 Pushing Up Daisies Writer [a]
1985-1986 Spitting Image Writer [a] 16 episodes [13]
1986 Comic Relief Writer [a] "Spitting Image's Royal Address"
1986 Spitting Image: Down and Out in the White House Writer [a] [13]
1986 Spitting Image: The Ronnie and Nancy Show Writer [a] [13]
1987 Spitting Image: The 1987 Movie Awards Writer [a] [13]
1988-1993 Red Dwarf Creator, writer, producer (from 1989), director (1992) [a] 36 episodes [13]
1992 Red Dwarf USA Creator and writer [a] Unaired pilot [13]
1993 The 10%ers Creator and writer [a] Pilot episode
1999 Dark Ages Creator and writer 5 episodes
2000 The Strangerers Creator and writer [13]
Note
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 With Doug Naylor

Bibliography

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  • Red Dwarf (1989), co-written with Doug Naylor (published under the joint pseudonym Grant Naylor); sometimes referred to as Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers.
  • Better Than Life (1990), co-written with Doug Naylor (published under the joint pseudonym Grant Naylor).
  • Primordial Soup (1993), co-written with Doug Naylor (collection of scripts from the TV show Red Dwarf)
  • Son Of Soup (1996), co-written with Doug Naylor (second volume of Red Dwarf scripts)
  • Scenes From The Dwarf (1996), co-written with Doug Naylor (making of Red Dwarf)
  • Backwards (1996), a sequel to Better Than Life.
  • Colony (2000), a science fiction story about a colony that has long since lost its way.
  • Incompetence (2003), a wry detective story set in the near future where it is illegal to discriminate for any reason, even incompetence.
  • Fat (2006), a darkly comic novel about how the media portrays obesity and its effects on society.
  • The Quanderhorn Xperimentations (2018), with Andrew Marshall, a science fiction story set in 1952 with echoes of Quatermass.
  • The Nether Regions (2019), with Andrew Marshall (BBC Radio 4) [13]
  • Red Dwarf: Titan (2026), with Andrew Marshall (prequel novel)[11]

References

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  1. 1 2 "Rob Grant, scriptwriter and author who was co-creator of the sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf". The Telegraph. 27 February 2026. Retrieved 27 February 2026.
  2. 1 2 Hayward, Anthony (4 March 2026). "Rob Grant obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Symes, Ian (1 March 2026). "Obituary: Rob Grant". Ganymede & Titan. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  4. ↑ "The Chicken Song - Spitting Image". Official Charts. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  5. ↑ "Well-Red Dwarf". Warrington Guardian. 30 April 1998. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  6. ↑ "Rob Grant | Carpool", Archive.org, event occurs at 21:06, 4 October 2010, retrieved 22 June 2025
  7. ↑ Symes, Ian (31 January 2019). "Rob Grant's Nether Regions". Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  8. ↑ "Into The Gloop And Beyond". Reddwarf.co.uk. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  9. ↑ Griffin, Louise (10 March 2023). "Red Dwarf's future confirmed after legal dispute resolved". Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  10. ↑ Hibbs, James (6 November 2023). "Red Dwarf co-creator teases all-new prequel: "We're very excited"". Radio Times. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  11. 1 2 Louise Griffin (19 February 2026). "Red Dwarf to return in new format with "original and fresh" prequel from series co-creator". Radio Times. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  12. ↑ Perry, Kevin E G (26 February 2026). "Red Dwarf's 'visionary' co-creator Rob Grant dies aged 70". The Independent. Retrieved 27 February 2026.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Rob Grant". Comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
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