Rob Grant, the English comedy writer best known as co-creator of the long-running science-fiction sitcom Red Dwarf, has died at age 70, his family announced. A statement posted on the fan site Ganymede & Titan said Grant passed away suddenly on Wednesday afternoon, 25 February 2026, describing it as “a great loss to his family, friends and comedy fans across the world.”
Grant and his writing partner, Doug Naylor, developed Red Dwarf from a radio sketch into a television series that premiered on BBC Two in 1988 and went on to become a cult favourite. The show, which blended science fiction and comedy, ran on television through 1999, with later revivals on the UK channel Dave.
Born in Salford, England, Grant studied psychology at Liverpool University before embarking on a career in comedy writing. In the 1980s he and Naylor wrote for BBC Radio and television, including the satirical puppet show Spitting Image and various sketch programmes. Red Dwarf emerged from their work on the radio show Son of Cliché.
Following his departure from Red Dwarf after its sixth television series in the mid-1990s, Grant went on to write other series such as The Strangerers and Dark Ages and authored several novels. His collaboration with Naylor remained a defining part of his career, often credited under the joint pseudonym “Grant Naylor.”
In February 2026, days before his death, Grant announced he had co-written a forthcoming Red Dwarf prequel novel, Red Dwarf: Titan, with writer Andrew Marshall, slated for publication in July. It was described as a back-story involving key characters prior to the original narrative’s central accident.
Tributes from colleagues and cast members circulated on social media after the announcement. Actor Craig Charles, who portrayed lead character Dave Lister in Red Dwarf, wrote on X that he was “in total shock” at Grant’s death.
Grant’s work on Red Dwarf helped establish the series as one of the UK’s enduring television comedies, influencing subsequent science fiction and comedy productions.
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