Rob Grant

Friends and colleagues pay tribute Red Dwarf co-creator Rob Grant

6 March, 2026

We were heartbroken to learn of the passing of Red Dwarf co-creator Rob Grant last week when his family shared the following news on long-running fan site Ganymede and Titan:

"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."

In the days that followed we reached out to his friends and collaborators and asked them to send us their tributes. Some of these pieces have been posted online elsewhere and we have included them here with permission, while other messages are newly written for this article. We think this collection of memories pay a fitting tribute to Rob and paint a vivid picture of the man he was.

Kath Grant

My Love

We met in July 1985 in London and very quickly moved in together.
After several letters threatening to cut off various utilities, and the final straw a roofer knocking on the door late one night demanding payment, I realised what living with this brilliant, creative mind entailed. We settled in to a relationship that survived the next 40 odd years.
I took care of life admin.
It was just better that way.

Rob had such a terrible sense of direction.
He could get lost on a short journey he'd done numerous times before.
His concentration was appalling.
He'd see or hear something and he'd be off.
His mind wandering, thinking, questioning, wondering.
Even if he was driving at 70 mph on the M1.
We soon settled in to a way of life.
I drove.
It was just better that way.

In the 90's he decided he'd like to learn to fly and get his private pilots licence.
He went to Elstree Aerodrome and did his exams.
He flew to Bruges.
He flew solo.
He had dreams of flying me and our two small children to Europe.
All I could imagine was the mind wandering going on up in the sky.
We never did fly with him.
It was just better that way.

But my love I hope you are flying now.
No sense of direction required.
Across the universe you were so fascinated with.
Getting the answers you were always looking for.

I love you
I miss you
My heart is broken
It doesn't feel better this way.

Lily Rose Grant

"When I lost my first tooth, my dad began a years-long pen pal relationship with me under his alter-ego "Dema the tooth fairy". I'd leave my tooth under the pillow with a letter and wake up in the morning to a beautiful sheet of parchment covered in hideous, scratchy hand-writing. Dema would apologise for the scrawl, explaining how hard it was to write with a human-sized pen as a tiny fairy. I could never wait for my next tooth to come out so that I could write back to her.

At school, there was always a hand-drawn comic strip waiting in my lunchbox. He wrote stories about "Lily Rose, the Robot Princess" and I'd read them more hungrily than I'd eat my towering sandwiches.

Every Valentine's Day, I received the biggest bunch of red roses with a poem from my "secret admirer" and my dad would feign fury at the audacity of this fictitious suitor - yet another of his many alter-egos.

As much I loved all of these characters, the one I loved the most was simply my dad. He did everything he could for anyone he could. He leaves behind a tremendous legacy - and for me, a huge hole in my heart that will never be filled.

Wherever you go, Dad, know that you are loved"

Joe Grant

"I'm writing to inform you that my father is dad"

Craig Charles

Actor

"It was just a normal rainy Thursday in Salford Rob (funnily enough your birthplace) I was doing my daytime radio show on BBC 6music when my phone vibrated. I had about 3 minutes left on the record so I answered. It was a friend of mine telling me he'd heard a rumour that you'd died the day before. I checked the news websites and there was no mention of it so I told him it was probably bollocks and got on with the show. The passing of one of the funniest writers to have ever graced these islands would be on the one o'clock, six o'clock, ten o'clock news. It'd be on Sky News on the hour, every hour wouldn't it? So No, it was bollocks, move on. Although I did feel a slight sense of foreboding. A shift in the space time continuum if you'll allow me to go a bit Red Dwarfy on you.

Weirdly I'd had a long conversation about you the night before. My wife Jackie had read me a newspaper article about your new novel Titan a prequel to Red Dwarf. You discussed turning it into a TV show and recasting the characters because, and I quote, 'those guys are getting old'. I must admit I called you a few choice names. Cheeky bastard being the most printable Rob.

Jackie wanted to know what you were like. I told her you were so funny, really quick witted, creative, imaginative, supremely well read. You seemed to know something about everything. Science, history, the classics, both Roman and Greek, books, music. I said you were across arcane knowledge and popular culture. I told her you were the go-to guy if you were ever putting a quiz team together. I told her that once, long ago, you were my friend and that hopefully one day you would be again.

So here's the thing.

I mention Jackie because we've been together for 30 years, married for most of it and she doesn't know you. My kids Jack Aj and Nellie have never had the pleasure of your company nor have I had the pleasure of meeting yours. We were so close Rob. We all adored Kath. What the smeg happened?

When you and Doug broke up Chris and I, Bobby and Danny were like kids in your divorce looking for answers and yet no explanation was given. Conversations were closed down, questions were discouraged and resolution was kicked into the long grass hopefully to be achieved at a later date. But I now know that date will never come. We were six series deep when you guys divorced. We were like family. We were on a roll. We'd taken something sneered at and derided by the middle class, Oxbridge educated, Sancerre sipping elite and made it an award winning international smash hit. Emmys in America, British comedy awards (though never a bafta the pricks) We were kings of comedy and then you were gone.

But I remember those days Rob. The excitement, the ambition. I remember the hard work it took. The dedication, the commitment, the long hours in those rehearsal rooms in North Acton. I remember watching you, fag in hand walking in circles talking to yourself, trying to get a line right in your head. You and Doug in conference.

Re-writing.

Fine tuning.

In search of the woof.

It felt like the relentless drive for perfection and the pursuit of comedy gold had all paid off and then you moved on. It felt like an abandonment and I've been left in the dark ever since. Broken family, radio silence, regret.

I watched from afar as you flirted with others, created new comedy families, got passionate with other talent and took your genius elsewhere. All the time wondering when your wanderlust would be sated. When you'd come back home to Doug and us and get stuck in for one last hurrah. We'd kept the fire burning and there was always a place by the fireside for you.

On one of the rare occasions we talked you told me you wanted to work on something that you'd thought of after the eighties. I respected that but I'm not sure if I believed it. You were good at masking your feelings, deflecting attention away from what you were really thinking. But I always thought I had a handle on you Rob. Your mouth would tell me I'd done well in a scene but your eyes would say that was shite. I thought I could read you because secretly you were Lister and by God so was I. I was charged with bringing the hidden you to life although to be fair I made him slightly better looking. Kath might disagree but she's grieving Rob and possibly not thinking straight. We are all grieving Rob. I'm crying now because I was supposed to say all this to your face one day you twat.

I'll always remember you Rob. The eating competition we had in the Yangtze where we both ate eighteen baskets of dim sum. Eighteen baskets.

Four parcels a basket.

That's some dim sum. I walk past the old studios in Oxford Road sometimes and always smile.

I moved to your hometown many years ago and my children grew up here. We used to have that scouse/Manc rivalry and it's ironic that my kids turned out to be Mancs.

I'll think of you forever.

And I'll think of you fondly.

Even that night in bed when Jackie read me the paper and you were saying I was getting older. I will take no comfort in the fact that you no longer will.

R.I.P

Smeghead.

Wherever you are make 'em laugh."

Geoff Atkinson

Writer, producer

"I first met Rob (and Doug) at the back of the Paris studio in the early eighties. We were a few weeks into a series of Huddlines and one thing stood out; their material was light years better than anyone else's. It broke all the rules, was clever, inventive, smart, and funny in a way the rest of us could only dream of. Later, in Manchester I came across an early Red Dwarf and was in hysterics. Scripts don't make you laugh out later. Theirs did. And in between was Spitting Image. They joined for the second series, dragged me in, and I have never felt more welcome. Rob was big hearted, generous in his praise, kind, supportive, and a true inspiration in every sense. Spitting Image was utterly their baby.

Later I'd join them on Cannon and Ball and again marvel at how effortless they were. Rob could adapt and change for any voice.

I've long thought jealousy was a good measure of respect, and, my god, I was jealous of Rob. But as a friend and traveller on the same journey. He truly was the person I looked up to, shamelessly copied, whose shows I'd seek out (Son of Cliché was pure brilliance) and who never lost the simple raw talent that made him unique.

His passing is so so sad, he will never be eclipsed, and if anyone asks who dragged a generation of comedy writers through the eighties and shaped what followed till this day, it was Rob.

I shed a tear when I heard and shed another thinking of how much I owe him. Oh what a loss."

Howard Goodall

Composer

"I must have met Rob for the first time when he was one of the writers on Carrott's Lib in 1982 and I was the resident synth player in Pete Brewis' live band, all of us new to the industry, hopeful creatures hoping to make our mark, or failing that, to have a few laughs along the way.

Not long after that I found myself composing the music for Red Dwarf. What a happy chain of events that was and what a wonderful collaboration that turned into. Rob was such a gentle, decent man, lovely to talk to whether it was for work or pleasure. The last time we had a beer together, with Paul (Jackson), he was full of enthusiasm and ingenious ideas for future projects. He wasn't for standing still or dwelling on the past. He was looking forward, always with a sparkle in his eye, always on the edge of a mischievous chuckle. Farewell dear, clever, generous chap and thanks for having me aboard the ship."

Jo Sharples

Former Dimension Jump organiser, friend

"Rob Grant was a comedy legend, and while he deserves every bit of praise thrown at him, he was something much more personal to me. It might sound bizarre, considering I met most of my adult friends, my partner, and even had my child because of the show he co-created, but Rob was, first and foremost, my friend.

He was the person who supported me through some stressful times and I did my best to offer support in return. He was the one who would meet me for coffee (and occasionally a sweet treat) to spend hours dissecting the films and shows we'd seen. When we quietly told him I was heading to the hospital to give birth, he was the one who over-excitedly told a Zoom call full of Red Dwarf fans that "it's happening!" He felt terrible for the slip-up, but even though I assured him that I didn't mind, he apologised profusely and promised birthday gifts "until the time she starts wanting a car." He kept that promise every single year. He would message for updates on how she was doing, asking for photos to cheer him up on his own stressful days.

To the world, he was Rob Grant, legendary writer, but in this house, he was Uncle Rob, and we are going to miss him a smegging lot."

Chris Barrie

Actor

"My memories of Rob go back to the mid eighties when we worked together on the Jasper Carrott shows, Spitting Image, Son of Cliché for BBC Radio, and of course, Red Dwarf. In the sketch shows the Grant Naylor scripts stood out from the rest as they were usually the funniest and cleverest. And amongst all the writers, Rob stood out because he was the most stylishly dressed, often sporting a sharp suit and appropriately striking shirt.

In script discussions and rehearsals I recall Rob as being extrovert and wonderfully animated when giving notes. My abiding memory will be of him pacing round the rehearsal room in Acton, suited and booted, doing the voices of all the characters while fine tuning the scene in question. He enjoyed a decent meal and was always happy to share his astute observations about the Comedy Business over some liquid refreshment. It is just a shame we didn't have many opportunities to get together in his later years. Witty, creative and fun to be around, Rob will be sorely missed by all who knew him. RIP Rob."

Nick Maloney

Actor

"Rob could turn his hand to anything including chess and cordon bleu cooking and be brilliant at it. Annoyingly so. He also had a habit of turning loo roll so that it fed under and not over. A mortal sin. For the last three years we were in daily contact sending ridiculous photos of duff album covers, inappropriate restaurant names etc as we pretended to run a failing business. He started this off, I'm sure to distract me and cheer me up after the loss of my wife. I'm going to miss him terribly having known him since the early days at the BBC in Manchester."

Paul Jackson

Old boot

"We have sat together in cars and taxis, coaches and trains; in hotel bars, station buffets, posh restaurants and grotty pubs; in edit suites, sound booths, studio rostra and theatre stalls. We have sat on panels and in pitch meetings and in script conferences; we have been to fan conventions and Board Meetings (oh those bloody Board Meetings). We kept each other sane during lockdown with the weekly episode commentaries and Lockdown Theatre. We have talked for hours on the phone many times over many years. We have celebrated and commiserated over the fortunes of ManU. We have had so many glorious moments and, just a few, truly horrible, infuriating days. And we have laughed, professionally and personally, so hard and so long, like school boys do, telling their first dirty jokes (and Rob had a store of unrepeatable ones too).

I have read his work, watched his work and listened to his work; I have directed and produced his work, even occasionally offered notes, as if I knew anything that he didn't. I have sought advice and received wise counsel. I have offloaded problems and been reassured. We have shared good wine and fine truffles and great jokes. And I wouldn't have missed a minute of it for anything. He brought comfort and joy to the world. Rest in peace old boot."

Simon Palmour

Friend

"50 years I knew you Rob. Papadams cracked, wine tasted, world cups watched in despair. Those long conversations when we gave and we took, always excited at the new. Nothing beats them. At your lowest ebb you turned it around, fought back, and went again. When I moved away you were the first to check on me. When a mutual friend was struggling we hatched a plan. I loved your thirst for knowledge and skills: cooking, flying, you even got a bike to improve your fitness (can't win them all). I hear your voice in my head, and it makes me smile."

Doug Naylor

Writer, producer, executive producer, director

"I'm deeply shocked and saddened to hear of Rob's passing. It's hard to take in the loss of someone who was my best friend and such a significant part of my life for so many years. I first met Rob when we were nine years old. We went to Chetham's School of Music and later Liverpool University. We grew up making each other laugh long before there was an audience, and eventually found ourselves building something that neither of us could have imagined when we were schoolboys.

Spitting Image and later Red Dwarf went on to become two of the most loved comedy series in Britain. I'll always treasure those years of writing together and laughing so hard it hurt.

Creative partnerships are intense, driven by passion, conviction and strong personalities. But at the heart of ours was a shared love of comedy and a desire to make people laugh and we did, on a scale neither of us could have predicted.

My thoughts are with Rob's wife Kath, and all his family and friends. I will always be grateful for my time working with Rob and what we created together. RIP Smeghead! X"

Gordon Kennedy

Actor, producer

"The World is a little less funny today. Our friend and colleague Rob Grant has died. This is bad news for everyone. But today as we hold Kath and the family, and writing partner Andrew Marshall, in our thoughts we, at Absolutely, are hurting. Rob was an Absolutely ever present. One of the very few and certainly one of the best talents closely linked to Absolutely since the very beginning.

It started with Rob and Doug plucking Moray Hunter and John Docherty from the staff writing desk at Radio 4 to the creative heart of the hottest comedy on TV - Spitting Image, through to them casting most of us at one time or another in the glorious Red Dwarf. Then, on his own, Rob brought us The Strangerers to produce for Sky. He then mentored and brought us Edward Rowett, a hugely talented young writer, who went on to write the award-winning Reluctant Persuaders.

With Andrew Marshall, he then brought us, I think his best piece of writing since Red Dwarf, the gloriously over ambitious, impossibly complex and hugely funny Quanderhorn. Then, to cap it all, with Andrew, a rare but hilarious sojourn in front of the microphone in The Nether Regions.

It's strange when you see it written down like this. He was a hugely talented writer and although he wrote several novels and some TV series on his own, it wasn't generally his way. He loved to collaborate. To help, to mentor, and chat and argue and most of all laugh. Maybe that's why he kept coming back to this loose collective of artists, idiots and artisans called Absolutely. Whatever, I am glad he did and I am so, so sad he won't again. Thank you for everything Rob."

Andrew Marshall

Writer

"For about the last 15 years my working day has started in the same way: make coffee, sit at desk at 9.30 and await Rob to appear on Zoom. Or Screenhero, Or Skype. Or whatever the gas powered useless app was before that. We shared thoughts, worries, family news, memories, latest movie opinions and most of all cookery tips. Oh, and then eventually wrote something. But most of all we laughed. Working with Rob was always, above all, fun.

As time wore on we grew to be like brothers, getting our families together for the Christmas Company Meal, and the Summer Sausage Festival in our garden. We even performed together in the sketch show The Nether Regions which Rob claimed was the best time he'd ever had in his life, and I agreed, which gives you some idea of our respective lives. He was unfailingly kind, thoughtful and generous. We never had a single argument and if we came to a small creative disagreement it was usually quickly solved by my saying "let's work out how to do both".

Most recently we embarked on writing a new Red Dwarf novel Titan. What we thought would take us a few months ended up as the best part of two years, pooling our combined talents and comedy skills to the utmost, planning character arcs and story points in enormous detail and writing and rewriting chapters until we were completely satisfied. It was gruelling and exhausting, but invigorating and above all, fun.

Then last Wednesday I made my coffee, sat down at my desk at 9.30, and Rob didn't appear on Zoom.

I am going to miss him more than I can say. I admired him greatly and loved him very dearly.

But What Larks, my old friend, What Larks!".

Mark Williams

Actor

"I was in the first episode of Red Dwarf but I didn't have much to do with Rob. I suspect we were all too busy enjoying ourselves with his and Doug's script. As we were all killed off I never saw Rob again until he cast me in The Stangerers.

Inventing those plant characters - how they moved, how they reacted to the human world was a great job supported constantly by Rob's enthusiasm and glee at what he saw being shot. I remember at one point just checking with myself whether it was genuine. Of course it was.

He was splendid on set, he gave what we were doing with his endlessly inventive script his maximum encouragement and Rob's maximum was a good eleven at least. And his mighty laugh was always fuel for us.

Real creative energy is unmistakable when you see it. Rob had it."

Geoff Posner

Producer, director

"Wednesday afternoon, around 3pm. Carrott's Lib 1983 writers' room. We were all looking at our shoes because we didn't have an ending to the topical live show. Suddenly, Rob pipes up. It's been a week of scandals in Coronation Street. "Why don't we do our own version?" It saved the day. The sketch was the highlight of the show. I had known Rob since his late 20s when he and Doug made the big move to London. They were extraordinary writers. Young and Northern. In that order. Rob had a huge heart. I'd had a stinky week on a show and he put his arm around me and said "Geoff. Don't worry. We're all in this with you." I loved him for it."

Ed Rowett

Writer

Rob's work speaks for itself: he was a comedy genius. You already know that. What his work doesn't tell you is what a kind, generous, patient, wise man he was. He took me under his wing when I was young and knew much less than I thought. He taught me about writing, and the business of being a writer. He gave me his time and wisdom for free, for no other reason than that was just the kind of man he was; he was unhesitatingly there when you needed him. I'm very lucky to have known him.

Robert Llewellyn

Actor, writer

"I first met Rob Grant in a small basement room in Soho in 1988. I was a little bit sceptical about working on a weird sci-fi comedy, but I immediately got on with Rob and Doug, they made me laugh and they made me want to work with them.

I worked with Rob from 1989 until 1995 and every interaction was joyous and extremely funny, even if he would occasionally criticise my performance or general intelligence, it didn't result in me feeling miserable, it made me a better performer and it made me laugh. That is a brilliant skill and I'll always remember Rob for his acerbic, spikey wit."

Hattie Hayridge

Actor, comedian

"I arrived late for my audition for Holly, after being told I was 45 minutes early. Apologising to the writers and director, I'd said I'd gone off for a drink. "Our kind of gal" piped up Rob, obviously mistaking my cappuccino for 8 pints of heavy. Ed Bye asked me to read from a script which turned out to be from Backwards. I read it and laughed. "Could you read it out loud, and see if you make us laugh!" said Doug. "I think we've found our dumb computer" said Rob.

His dark humour and quick wit would burst out from his cheery smiling face without notice. I believe Mr Llewellyn posted about Rob's expertise with a riposte. I looked up 'riposte', and there in definition 1. is an example by a person named Grant. A coincidence, I'm sure.

The last time I saw Rob was at Dimension Jump in 2021, when he, Paul Jackson and myself travelled back from Nottingham on the same crowded train, and took it in turns to sit in the one remaining seat. If half the students on that train had realised that one of the Red Dwarf scriptwriters was leaning against the luggage rack, we could all have grabbed a seat each, as they knelt on the train floor declaring "We are not worthy". The three of us had to have a drink in the pub afterwards, just to have a sit down. Well that was our excuse anyway.

As with literally millions of others, I am greatly saddened by the loss of Rob. The outpouring of emotion from friends and colleagues, shows how much he meant to them. But also from people who, although never having met him, felt Rob's work gave pleasure and even extra meaning to their lives."

Martin and Shirlie Kemp

Friends and neighbours

"Martin and I lived next door to Rob and Kath in the mid 90's. Our children were the same age so we instantly became friends. Learning to ride bikes together, learning to play together and becoming the best of friends!

At one point Rob went to the famous Raymond Blanc Michelin star cookery school, and of course, he excelled and couldn't wait to try his recipes out, so living next door meant that he would ask us to pop in to taste some incredible dishes that he created and therefore host most of the dinner parties, the only down side was he used every pot and pan in the house, so we would need to be part of the 'wash up & clear up' team afterwards.

We had so much in common, Rob loved music and playing guitar, we had so many nights together from Halloween, to Chinese new year to playing games and singing songs on the karaoke machine and the wonderful thing was our children enjoyed it as much as we all did.

We hold those memories of that time very dear to our hearts and it's with great sadness that we say farewell to Rob who will be so missed so much by all of us, because Rob and Kath, were not just friends they are part of our family!"

Jack Docherty

Actor, writer

"I first worked with Rob on Spitting Image. He seemed like a grand old statesman of comedy, but of course he was only 27. Then I Red Dwarfed as The Inquisitor and had a long summer of fun shooting The Strangerers. When I had to go to Greece mid-shoot he offered to personally fly me there. And he wasn't joking. I learnt so much about comedy from Rob, but more importantly I learnt that a pint needs a whisky chaser and that, no matter where you are in London at whatever time, there's an Indian restaurant open. I have nothing but fond memories of Rob - great writer, great company, great man."

Justin Judd

Producer

"I can honestly say that my time working with Rob was one of the best experiences of my working life. From the creative tension and impossibly tight constraints of Red Dwarf VI emerged something close to comedy perfection and the development and production of the massively underrated Dark Ages was, for all that the show got buried by ITV, a very satisfying experience. I still treasure the memories. The world will be an infinitely poorer place without Rob's wit, imagination and creativity to light it. God knows how we need laughter now."

Ian Hislop

Journalist, satirist

"Rob Grant was one half of the brilliant writing team of Grant and Naylor who I first worked with on the under-rated Carrott's Lib - where their talent for distinctive and original sketch writing was immediately apparent.

Rob was the more confident in those days and exuded a love and knowledge of comedy. He and Doug then contributed hugely to the success of the initial Spitting Image series on ITV. Classic surreal political sketches (the Presidents Brain is Missing), whimsical melancholic classics (the actor John Gielguid in retirement) and insanely catchy parody songs (Agadoo anyone?) poured out of them. Nick Newman and I worked closely with them on Spitting Image in those days and went to New York with Rob and Doug to launch a full length Ronald Reagan Special - we were all fired but it was a wonderful trip. They were always looking to expand to a longer format and they found it in Red Dwarf - and the rest is history. I am very pleased to have known and worked with Rob in those early perhaps more carefree and exciting days. RIP"

Danny John-Jules

Actor

"It's been a very strange week. Me and my daughter were about to leave to attend the 60th anniversary of the Africa Centre. Originally Covent Garden, now a brand-new building in Southwark. We were just about to leave when Doug Naylor phoned to break the news about Rob Grant's Ascension. Me and my daughter had recently spent a weekend with Rob and Kath at Prague Comic Con. I had no idea until I bumped into them on my way to the loo! They looked so happy. Rob was full of beans and was really good with my girl. We even had dinner with the Mayor! So to say I was speechless is an understatement, and to be honest, usually impossible. I left a voice message on his phone; "Hi Rob's family. Is anyone monitoring this?". Kath responded ... I started drafting a message ... never sent it. Didn't know what to say ... So today I was sitting on the sofa in my UGGs Fluff Full-Body Hoodie having had a late night with my best friend reminiscing after attending his mum's funeral the day after Rob passed and celebrating at the Africa Centre, when my phone rang to the dulcet tones of Paul Jackson chasing "Those words for the website" ... I'm still having trouble ... OK. I'm going to try and sum Rob up with one of my many 'Observations'.

Now Rob sang and danced like Fred Flintstone, playing Rex Harrison, but he loved musicals. West Side Story, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, Oklahoma, basically all 'The Butch Stuff', Sammy Davis Jr, Gene Kelly, Bob Fosse, his favourite being Howard Keel (and they don 't come butcher than Clayton Farlow in Dallas) We'd be in my dressing room doing notes and randomly break out into a 'Thigh-Slapper' like Bless your Beautiful Hide which must have pissed Doug off no end because he never ever joined in. He might have been out of tune, but still not as bad as Rob was in our last number. In fact I think he might have been tone deaf! It was at that moment I realised that even though the boys had the same name and finished each other's sentences like twins, they were completely different because Doug never finished Rob's songs. I was doing my 5th West End Musical at night, rehearsing RD S1 during the day, flying to Manchester on weekends to film, back home and then repeat all over again on Monday. Once Rob had just finished destroying his half of Sammy And Frank's version of Me And My Shadow and Rob said, really seriously, "Doug, we've got to put a number in the show for Dan, but how?". Doug nonchalantly replied "A dream". That dream became Tongue Tied. Number 17 in the pop charts.

I'd attended Doug's new book launch on my birthday and ironically Rob had a new RD book coming out, Titan (RD characters young) I (Of course) told him it would make a great musical and proceeded to perform one of those corny Hollywood Film pitches narrating the opening scene and into the first number. To my surprise, his eyes widened ... "We should have a coffee when we get back. He complimented me on my Peaky Blinders cap and I told him that I had a second exact one at home and that I'd send it to him. I sent him a video to prove it and he sent me a photo back with him wearing it. That was the last (mental) image I had/have of him. He'll be sadly missed all over the world, I know because I've been to many countries with him. May he rest in peace while he makes the rest of them "Rest In Pieces", which is what I usually had to do after one of our numbers. I personally will be having a 'Saki' (Not to be confused with 'Water') in his honour.

"KAMPAI!!"."

Liz Thesen

Friend

"It's Autumn 1974. We've just started at Liverpool University and, as usual, we're all squashed into Rob's room in a cloud of smoke - me, Mark, Andy, Mick, Rob and Doug, always "Rob and Doug". Rob's playing his guitar and singing as usual, "Good Day Sunshine" or "Cecilia".

Rob's eighteen, or maybe nineteen, as his birthday is in September. He's healthy (apart from the forty No6 a day), skinny, fit and pretty damn gorgeous. He's clever, creative, kind, generous, sarcastic, cutting sometimes - he could take you down with one word - charismatic, into martial arts, always jumping onto walls or chairs, and always with Doug. Already a comedy package - Rob and Doug, Grant and Naylor, like Morecombe and Wise, Cook and Moore, Fry and Laurie. He was our leader and we were dazzled by him."

Hils Barker

Comedian, writer

"What a beautiful person he was. Amazing, spirited, utter madness, so caring. Saw things most others miss. I used to go round to his for writing every Friday more or less, in about 2009 / 2010. He and Kath were so welcoming and Joe and Lily just extremely great and friendly people. I remember the laughs we would have - sometimes all of us, but especially me and Rob in the study plugging away at the scripts. Sometimes almost literally rolling about laughing at the bit one of us had come up with. To this day I will still giggle unstoppably at the phrase "jacket and trousers", a combo whose humorous depths only the two of us will ever fully understand."

Jon James

Animator, producer, writer

"I met Rob through one of his comedy writing classes in London over a decade ago, and he was one of the most generous people I've known. For years following the class he gave feedback on the comedy scripts I sent him, never asking for anything in return. And he probably should have because some of them were retrospectively rubbish! Years later, when we reconnected, it was a privilege to collaborate on a few of his ideas. Rob was a tremendous man and a phenomenal writing talent, and I wanted people to know that he absolutely still had it. He never lost that spark."

Norman Lovett

Actor, comedian

"So sorry to hear about Rob and my thoughts are with his family but I will tell them that they will begin to feel better as the days go by.

Rob and Doug were great comedy writers and had a massive success with Red Dwarf of which I was very happy to have played a small part in.

All good things must come to an end and whoever wrote that must have been a very bitter person but not as bad as the lunatic that thought life began at forty.

So goodbye Rob and it was lovely to have known you. And thanks for the funny lines. RIP (I have my doubts about that one as well)"

Marcus Gipps

Editor at large, Gollancz and SFGateway

"I was a fan of Red Dwarf from late series 4, and devoured the books. I watched Spitting Image with my parents every week. I was a geeky SF kid, then reader, then bookseller, then publisher.

Rob was first (Incompetence) and last (Fat) published by Gollancz long before I joined the company in 2011. But he was still in touch with various fellow authors, and we would bump into each other at book launches and so on, and I'd always ask what he was working on. So when he said that he and Andrew had written a Quatermass pastiche for radio, and asked if I would be interested in a novelisation, I was thrilled that he was returning to the world of prose, alongside another comedy writer I was in awe of.

We all had a great time working on that book, and although perhaps it didn't do as well as we had all hoped, I was keen for there to be another project. Anything they came up with would have been exciting, but when Rob and Andrew said that it would be a Red Dwarf novel I was blown away. We had some amazing discussions around plot, publication plans and much else over some lovely lunches, and the final result was even better than I had hoped. We had only just announced - slightly earlier than we had expected, which in hindsight was a good thing - the existence of a book that fan-me had been waiting almost 30 years for when I missed a call from Rob's agent Julia asking me to call her urgently. When I listened to the voicemail I got a sinking feeling.

I'm devastated that Rob won't be around to see the release of Titan, and the culmination of all the plans we had spent ages discussing. He won't get to see the beautiful special editions, which also won't be signed by him. He saw the excitement of the fans around the announcement, but he won't get to see the reviews and discussions and critiques and arguments. He won't get to go on tour with Andrew, to sign in bookshops, to open the first box of their new book, to show it off.

Selfishly, I'm also sad that I won't get to share another cigarette with him, or be asked how my family are, or be, told off, for taking, out, too many, commas, or enjoy a lunch with Rob and Andrew talking about exactly which version of a line was funnier.

I never really met Rob's family, but I send them my love. And also to Andrew, and Julia, and Rob's friends, and colleagues, and fans.

But I know that the book will be a fitting legacy. I can't wait for you all to read it."

Robert Lindsay

Actor

"During the pandemic when the theatre industry literally fell silent Rob Grant found our voice and with Paul Jackson organised various virtual theatrical events which gave pleasure and relief to thousands of people starved of the cultural entertainment that we so missed.

As President of the Royal Theatrical Fund I approached Rob to see if we could use his help and expertise to raise funds for so many in the profession struggling with financial hardship.

I introduced many well known names such as Micheal Palin, Jo Lumley, Emma Thompson, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Emilia Clarke, Derek Jacobi, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen to the project all of whom were overwhelmed by Rob's organisation and many thousands of people were entertained via Zoom by talented actors reading plays such as Private Lives, Waiting For Godot and Stoppard's Real Inspector Hound, plus an evening called For One Knight Only hosted by Kenneth Branagh and everyone performed in the comfort of their own homes as per Lockdown. A double treat for the audiences also watching from their homes.

A remarkable achievement by Rob and many of us in the theatre community are eternally grateful."

Morwenna Banks

Actor, comedian

"I was lucky enough to be cast as The Lift Operator in Red Dwarf and the Super-Supervisor in The Strangerers. Despite Rob clearly viewing me as some form of weird automaton/alien, he was always the warmest, kindest, cleverest and funniest of entirely human beings."

Mike Tucker

VFX, author

"My abiding memory of Rob will be of sitting with him, Doug and the rest of the VFX team in a pub during the planning stages of season 4. Rob and Doug were quizzing us about what model sequences we thought we could do well. As the evening progressed, more and more beer was drunk, and the ideas became ever more elaborate. It was that collaboration, freedom of design and trust that we could deliver what we promised - even if those promises were made when we were pissed - that made the first six series of Red Dwarf such a joy to work on. We were a young, fairly inexperienced, but very ambitious crew of FX assistants, and I grateful for the belief that Rob had in all of us."

Andrew Ellard

Writer

"A sci-fi nerd, a tech-head, a language pedant. Rob Grant was one of us. Only funnier.

Read what he wrote and you'll see a gift for not only looking at life from his own unique angle, but also for forcing characters to live at that canted angle for agonising hours. Their frustration and pain becoming our entertainment. For the laughs. He was an exquisite torturer.

We talked once about moderating a writers' forum together. It got lost in the shuffle of life and work. Now Rob's gone the way of forums and we never got back to the idea. Dammit. I have two photographs with Rob and Doug - one from a Red Dwarf convention, and one from a DVD commentary recording recreating the one from the convention. As one of us he understood why that needed to happen."

Ed Bye

Director, producer

"I learnt a long time ago that the success of a television show relies on one singular thing - the script. As a result, I have always tried to work closely with writers to extract their genius and never has it been a greater pleasure to do so than with Rob. It went beyond a writer/director relationship to one of a friend who could make me laugh and gasp at his extraordinary writing skills and fathomless wit. This is a massive loss for our industry, the literary world and for me personally. I will miss him forever."

John Lloyd

Producer, writer

"Rob was a force of nature and a joy to spend time in the pub with. As a quarter of the core writing team on the original Spitting Image, his wild sense of humour, radical ideas, and relentless energy were beyond price. While he and Doug Naylor were there, they came up with a brilliant movie script called The Thursday Man which I absolutely loved. It's one of my great regrets that I was never able to help them get it made. My other great regret was that I never got to produce Red Dwarf. Some other swine got that gig."

Graham Hutchings

Editor

"It was a great thrill for me to catch up with Rob again in the last year. We worked on a comedy project together with Ed Bye and Paul Jackson for the University of the Arts in Kent.

It had been the best part of 25 years since I'd last seen him, and that was when I was editing Red Dwarf.

Of course he hadn't changed one jot. Our paths had crossed many many times in my career prior to Red Dwarf as Rob had also been writing material for Carrot's Lib and Not The Nine O'clock News.

Such a gentle giant and a genius of comedy writing. Thank you for giving us all those huge laughs.

What a pleasure it was working with you my friend."

Sir Lenny Henry

Actor, comedian

"I knew Rob and Doug a bit because in the eighties-way back in Jurassic times, when it was all fields round here and a pint cost sixpence, they wrote for a show called Three of a Kind. This was a sketch show featuring Tracey Ullman, David Copperfield and myself. What I remember mostly about this experience is that whenever Rob and Doug's sketch package came in, they were always beautifully well written and full of laugh out loud jokes and punchlines. Gorgeous - just what was needed-like Comedy Cavalry coming to our rescue every week. He'll be missed. Thanks for all the laughs Rob.

Latterly-I did a pilot for ITV, Rob came in to help with the stand up throughout the show - I found him creatively available, a great collaborator and relentless in terms of why something was funny. Exhausting.

Spending time in a room with Rob was awesome... he really knew how to wrangle funny stuff and find the correct structure for each moment. I really admired his good humour in the room, his willingness to jump in and play.

I loved his book Fat, which pre dated this whole concern about weight loss medicine and body dysmorphia. I thought he handled the subject matter with kindness but also a dark underpinning of criticism... I was able to tell him that when we worked together and he was very moved by that.

Thank you Rob - you were hella funny."

Joel Marvin and Sharon Lomas

The Royal Theatrical Fund

"We had the great privilege of working with Rob and Lockdown Theatre on several star-studded live table reads during the pandemic. The Real Inspector Hound, Private Lives and A Bit of Waiting for Godot raised more than £110k for The Royal Theatrical Fund and in 2020 For One Knight Only, a live-streamed Q&A featuring British acting legends Dame Judi Dench, Sir Derek Jacobi, Sir Ian McKellen, and the late Dame Maggie Smith, hosted by Sir Kenneth Branagh raised over £300,000 for Acting for Others, a record-breaking achievement for the charity. We are eternally grateful for Rob's kindness, and the invaluable role he played in creating this theatrical magic. His support has had a huge impact on thousands of beneficiaries of the charities. He will be greatly missed."

Emma Millions

Writer and producer

"Working with Rob was a great privilege, and an utter, unexpected pleasure for a fan girl like me who loved Red Dwarf from the very beginning. Childhood Me would have been blown away to know I'd get that opportunity, and Rob was so funny and generous and extraordinarily good at what he did. He made a lot of us laugh for many, many hours over the years with his brilliant writing and he did that with his wonderful words and sense of humour in real life too. He truly will be missed greatly by family, friends and fans alike."

James Fleet

Actor

"Rob was always enthusiastic and kind and I loved his sense of humour. He always had something interesting to say. The Quanderhorn Xperimentations was a triumph and I was proud to be in it."

Richard Clifford

Vice chair of the Royal Theatrical Fund

"He was such a supportive and good, kind man when we were going through Lockdown and the world was at a standstill.

So helpful to us at the Royal Theatrical Fund. We couldn't have managed as well as we did without his assistance. For One Knight Only, with Ian, Derek, Maggie, Judi and Ken was a highlight for me and most of the planet!!!

Rob made the events a very relaxed and fun experience for the performers and the audiences loved the play readings. Actually we were able to keep going through the crisis, when the government were doing so little to assist those struggling in the Arts."

Nick Kool

VFX

"It was only about a year after starting at the BBC Visual Effects department, that the designer Peter Wragg booked me to work on Red Dwarf III in early 1989. At the time I had no idea that the show would involve me for many years to come, right up till series 7, and have never forgotten the excitement of getting to read the new scripts for each series that Rob and Doug had written. It was a real treat to not only get an idea of the sort of effects we were going to be producing, but also get to read the hilarious dialogue!

From the start, Rob was welcoming and always appreciative of all our effects work (both models and floor effects) that we would create for the show. I will always remember the bottles of whiskey Rob and Doug sent us all when we won our first Royal Television Society award for best visual effects - the first time I had ever experienced a single malt whiskey!

I will never forget those early years of Red Dwarf - probably some of the best years of my career. I still look back with great pride to have been involved in a real CLASSIC of TV comedy.

My sincere condolences to all of Rob's family and friends."

Mark Stephenson

Friend

"Rob has been a brilliant friend for 50 plus years. We first met at Liverpool University in autumn 1974, both of us at the legendary Carnatic halls of residence. Rob seemed naturally able to draw people to him and even then had an easy charm and ability to make people laugh and feel special. We bonded over the usual student things, mainly music, humour, talking rubbish and drinking. Our studies definitely came second. I well remember his late night guitar playing and us singing along badly. He was a big fan of the Beatles and Stevie Wonder.

We moved to an old house in our second year [Doug, Liz, Andy, Mick, Eric] where Ken Dodd was our neighbour. Lack of money didn't hold us back from enjoying some great times in pubs, clubs and curry houses in Liverpool. Even every day things I look back on with great affection because of Rob's companionship. Too much to say about that year really!

We went on to share so many significant life events over the decades, enjoying each other's weddings, celebrating the birth of children and reflecting on life's ups and downs. Rob is one of the few people I regard as a true friend, always there - reliable and sharing moments, always with laughter and understanding. Go well, Rob."

Moray Hunter

Comedian, writer

"Coming in as a relative newbie on Spitting Image, Rob was always encouraging, never dismayed, despite the, frankly, up-and-down quality of the material being offered up. That support and belief meant a lot. He was always a brilliant, inspired and inspiring comedy writer, but was clearly prepared to put in the perspiration too. I'll remember and will miss his warmth and generosity, his infectious laugh and his love of being made to laugh, as well. And his culinary skills, including once, an excellent haggis. Sending much love to Kath and the family.

RIP, Rob."

Rich Lawden

Filmmaker

"Rob Grant had the rare ability to make the artificial feel real, alive and solid. For countless followers, his work was more than mere entertainment; it was formative. It shaped our humour, our imagination, even our friendships. He proved that science fiction could be grounded and emotional while carrying undeniable cinematic flair.

He wrote with empathy and nerve, always rooting for the underdog. He could take inhospitable dives like Mimas and make them not only tangible, but strangely inviting. He gave ruthless Aganoids heartbreaking names, gifted accessible language to our shared neuroses, and always found humanity in the strange and baffling.

Beneath the jokes lay something deeper - warmth, vulnerability, and a keen understanding of flawed, everyday people doing their best in unbearable situations.

In the days since his passing, many fans have reached instinctively for some of his and Doug's more brazen dialogue concerning death, longing, and loss - not to diminish the moment, but to endure it. His words remain a source of comfort when the smeg inevitably hits the fan: a small, steady light against the vastness of space, guiding us, quietly, home."

Peter Baikie

Comedian, composer

"I was fortunate to work musically with Rob (and Andrew) on various radio shows. Each musical request was prefaced by an apology from Rob - 'We have more work for you. Sorry.' There were loads of laughs and Rob was always extremely generous, encouraging and very very silly."

Helen Brown

Executive editor of BBC Sport

"TV can have a really special place in your life and being a fan of Rob's work was something I shared with my late dad. Red Dwarf was also the programme that sparked my interest in wanting to make television: how something could be so creative and innovative and, above all else, funny. Rob's writing was sublime. His work has connected me with very special people in my life, inspired my career, and made me laugh more than anything else. What a gift to the universe. I shall raise a pint to you in the Aigburth Arms."

Tony Hawks

Author, comedian

"I will always remember Rob's infectious giggle - and how in those early days of Dwarf, he was one of the key players in making it all such fun, and very much a team effort. I owe much of the success of my career to Rob's brave decision to cast me as the voice of a suitcase. RIP. x"

Curtis Threadgold

Writer

"If you'd told 13-year-old me - a kid that had melded his entire personality with his Red Dwarf obsession - that one day Rob Grant would ring up to ask if he'd write about Red Dwarf for him, he would have been so excited that he'd have to rush out and buy a brand new copy of Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers to replace the pristine copy that he'd just dropped in astonishment.

If you then told 13-year-old me that before he knew it, Rob Grant would be writing scripts with him and planning projects with him, well, it would have blown his mind. And yet here we are, all these years later, that fan got to call his hero a friend.

Reading through these tributes, I think a lot of us felt the same, because that's the kind of guy Rob was. Generous, warm and kind-hearted; he cared who you were, what you thought, and he wanted to bring you into his world. And because of that, I'm an even bigger fan of him now than that 13-year-old kid could ever have wished to be.

Thanks for the memories, Rob, adiaǔ, kapitano."

Maidstone Studios

Comedy Relics venue team

"Such very sad news to hear of the passing of the wonderful Rob Grant.

We had the real privilege of welcoming Rob to Maidstone Studios, where he recorded a panel with Paul Jackson and Ed Bye discussing his extraordinary work across television including the iconic Red Dwarf.

He was generous with his time, insight and humour and it was an honour to host him.

His writing shaped a generation of British comedy and science fiction, and his legacy will continue to inspire audiences and creators for years to come. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time."

Kevin Eldon

Actor, comedian

"I had the pleasure of working with Rob on his Quanderhorn radio series and everyone involved, including me, had a ball. This was in no small part due to Rob's cheery nature and relaxed working style. He was open and friendly, a really warm presence. I appreciated it at the time and those wonderful qualities have come into sharp focus in my mind now that we've so sadly lost him. I am incredibly grateful that I had the opportunity to meet and work with such a lovely man. My heartfelt condolences go out to his family and all his friends."

On behalf of Rob's family and everyone at reddwarf.co.uk, we thank each contributor for their kind words and messages. For those interested in reading more about Rob's life and work, we recommend long-term fan and friend Ian Symes' obituary. Rest in peace, Rob, Godspeed x.

Rob Grant (25th September 1955 - 25th February 2026)