Posted in: BBC, TV | Tagged: red dwarf

Red Dwarf Co-Creator, Writer & Producer Rob Grant Dies, Age 70

Comedy writer, author, and producer Rob Grant, who co-created the cult classic sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf with Doug Naylor, has died, age 70.

Comedy writer, author, and television producer Robert Grant, who co-created cult classic sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf with Doug Naylor, has died at the age of 70. "With much sadness, we have to announce that Rob Grant, co-creator of Red Dwarf, passed away suddenly yesterday afternoon (Wednesday 25th February 2026), a great loss to his family, friends, and comedy fans across the world," read the statement from Grant's family that was shared on Ganymede & Titan, a Red Dwarf fansite.

Debuting on BBC Two in February 1988, the comedy series would eventually wrap up its run in April 2020. The first six series would run from 1988 to 1999, with the remaining series and special resuming on Dave in 2009 and running until 2020. Grant would depart the show after Series 6, reportedly over creative differences with Naylor (though the two reached a mutual resolution to their dispute in 2023). Interestingly, Grant and Naylor would co-write the pilot for a US version of the show for NBC in 1992. Recently, Grant stepped up efforts to re-energize the franchise, even penning the prequel novel Red Dwarf: Titan with Andrew Marshall, which is set to release this year.

The series itself focused on Dave Lister (Craig Charles), a low-ranking technician who awakens from millions of years of suspended animation – only to realize that he's the last human remaining. Joining him on the mining spacecraft are a hologram of his roomie, Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie), a lifeform stemming from his pregnant pet, Cat (Danny John-Jules), the ship's sanitation droid, Kryten (Robert Llewellyn), and the ship's computer, Holly (Norman Lovett).

"The thing is, when we started doing Red Dwarf back in the day, there was never any sense that the TV show would endure; it was kind of a disposable thing," Grant shared with RadioTimes back in 2023, shortly after he and Naylor mended fences. "You made the show, it went out, it got a repeat within the weekend if you were very lucky, a couple of years down the line, it would make a fleeting appearance, before disappearing into the void. That all changed with VHS, and some people could keep shows and watch them again. There was a big market for them. We didn't know we're going to be working on a show that was still going to be shown 35 years later. It's amazing, really." Grant also wrote for Pushing Up Daisies, Spitting Image, Comic Relief, The Strangerers, Dark Ages, and other shows and specials. In addition, Grant was the author of Colony (2000), Incompetence (2003), Fat (2006), and other works.

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