Rob Grant, one of the creators of the cult sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf, has died. He was 70.
Grant co-created Red Dwarf with Doug Naylor and the series ran from 1988 to 1999 on BBC Two. The show was later brought back by Dave from 2009-2020.
Grant’s death was announced by his family. In a statement to the Red Dwarf fan site Ganymede & Titan, they wrote: “With much sadness, we have to announce that Rob Grant, co-creator of Red Dwarf, passed away suddenly yesterday afternoon (Wednesday February 25 2026), a great loss to his family, friends and comedy fans across the world.”
The Red Dwarf show followed the last remaining crew member of a mining spacecraft, led by technician Dave Lister (played by Craig Charles). He wakes after four million years to discover he is the only surviving human. All he has left for company are a hologram of his workmate Arnold Rimmer (played by Chris Barrie), a sanitation droid (Robert Llewellyn), the ship’s computer Holly (Norman Lovett) and an entity called Cat (Danny John-Jules).
An episode from the sixth series of the show, Gunmen of the Apocalypse from 1994, won an International Emmy Award in the Popular Arts category. In the same year, Red Dwarf was also awarded Best BBC Comedy Series at the British Comedy Awards.
Craig Charles led tributes to Grant on social media, writing: “Earlier today I was informed of the passing of [Rob Grant].
“I am in total shock. He was one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. A visionary. My heart goes out to his family and friends. The impact he and Doug had on the course of my life is immeasurable. RIP ROB.”
Earlier today I was informed of the passing of @realrobgrant .i am in total shock.He was one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. A visionary.
My heart goes out to his family and friends. The impact he and Doug had on the course of my life is immeasurable
RIP ROB— Craig Charles (@CCfunkandsoul) February 26, 2026
Oh man, what sad news. I met him at his script writing course many moons ago and prepared myself to NOT bother him with all my favourite Red Dwarf quotes. I broke within seconds, and he was gracious enough to indulge me and my childhood joy. A nice guy, and a comedy genius.
— Imran Yusuf (@imranyusuf) February 26, 2026
It's so sad. He & Doug are comedy geniuses – Red Dwarf was my obsession throughout my teens and it continues to have a special place in my heart.
Was looking forward to what he was going to do with the prequels – hopefully his new book, Titan, will be released as his legacy
— Allison Green (@Alligatoruk1975) February 26, 2026
ROB GRANT – 1955-2026
We are devastated to learn of Rob’s passing and send love to his family and friends. He will always live on through his amazing creativity, storytelling and humour. Travel well, Sir. 💔 #reddwarf pic.twitter.com/BJDcCBN0OW
— The Official Red Dwarf Fan Club (@TORDFC) February 26, 2026
RIP Rob Grant. 😔
Co-creator of Red Dwarf with Doug Naylor, wrote for Spitting Image with Doug in its early years including The Chicken Song and wrote on the excellent Carrott's Lib. That's not just a career, that's a legacy. https://t.co/f2Wp4mtSuU
— Cameron Yarde Jnr (@CameronYardeJnr) February 26, 2026
Just days before his passing, Grant announced the publication of a new Red Dwarf prequel novel, titled Red Dwarf: Titan.
Speaking this week to Radio Times, Grant explained the plot, saying: “It’s Lister and Rimmer before the accident on shore leave on Titan. It’s set one universe to the side, so we can have familiar characters but we can do different things with them, because the difficulty was writing something that was going to be original and fresh and using the same characters without breaking the canon.
“So it was quite an intricate bit of work that actually took us about a year-and-a-half longer than we were hoping.”
He also went on to explain how he got the rights back to Red Dwarf following a legal dispute. “It’s common knowledge that there has been a legal dispute over the rights of Red Dwarf for bloody years,” he told the outlet. “It went to court, and it made Bleak House look like an episode of Judge Judy! But we finally got it resolved, and suddenly all these rights became available to me, and one of them was for the prequel, and that’s where it started.
“We originally wrote it as a treatment for a TV spin-off and took it around, but it’s horribly expensive, and we couldn’t really raise enough interest. We might down the line… we’ve been talking to streamers about it but, when you read it, [you’ll realise] it’s a whole world you’d have to create. It wouldn’t be cheap.”
Grant was born in 1955 in Salford, Greater Manchester. He studied Psychology at Liverpool University and later met his writing partner, Naylor, in the early ’80s.
Before writing Red Dwarf, the pair worked on radio comedies and television shows including the Spitting Image. They also worked on projects with stand-up comedian Jasper Carrott (as per The Independent).
The idea for Red Dwarf emerged out of their writing for Radio Four. The show had its debut on February 15 1988 and gained 4.75million viewers. In 1999, this had grown to 8million.
Both Grant and Naylor published several Red Dwarf novels using the joint pseudonym “Grant Naylor.”
This is a developing story – more to follow