Robert Grant (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, and the second with Andrew Marshall. He died suddenly on 25 February 2026.[1]

Early life
Grant was born in Salford and studied Psychology at Liverpool University for two years.

Career
In the mid-1980s, Grant collaborated with co-writer Doug Naylor on radio programmes such as Son Of Cliché, Wrinkles for BBC Radio 4 and television programmes such as Spitting Image, The 10 Percenters, and various projects for Jasper Carrott.

The 'Grant Naylor' collaboration, as it had become known, created the cult science-fiction comedy series, Red Dwarf, which evolved from Dave Hollins: Space Cadet, a recurring sketch within Son Of Cliché. Grant was briefly seen (uncredited) in an episode of Red Dwarf entitled "Backwards" (1989), as a man who 'un-smoked' a cigarette. In the mid-1990s, the 'Grant Naylor' collaboration was ended when Grant left Red Dwarf after the sixth series, citing creative differences ("... it was basically 'musical differences' ...") with Doug Naylor.[2] His main reason however, he said, was that he "wished to have more on his 'tombstone' than Red Dwarf on its own".

In 2018, Grant collaborated with Andrew Marshall to produce, direct and write the BBC Radio 4 Series, "The Quanderhorn Xperimentations" - and also the novel version published by Gollancz Publishers.

In 2021, it was announced that Grant had written a short Red Dwarf script, Into the Gloop, which was performed live via Zoom on 7 February 2021 as part of the Official Red Dwarf Fan Club's Holly Hop convention.[3]

On 19 February 2026, it was announced that Grant had written a Red Dwarf prequel novel, Red Dwarf: Titan, co-authored by Andrew Marshall, which was to be released in July 2026.[