Obituary: Rob Grant Features Posted by Ian Symes on 1st March 2026, 16:08 Pioneering comedy writer, best-selling author, and co-creator of Red Dwarf, Rob Grant has died, aged 70. Rob was born in Salford, Greater Manchester in September 1955, and grew up a stone’s throw from the original exterior location for Coronation Street, if you want to get a picture of how his upbringing looked. Aged nine, he won a scholarship to Chetham’s Hospital School, and on his very first day at the private music school, he met fellow pupil Doug Naylor. It was a chance coming together that had an immeasurable impact on the future of British comedy, not to mention the lives of thousands, if not millions of future fans. The pair immediately bonded, and their friendship endured into adulthood. After leaving school they both enrolled at Liverpool University, reading Psychology. Over many nights in their local pub, The Aigburth Arms, they soon came to realise that academia wasn’t doing much for them, but they were interested in exploring their more creative talents. During their second year, Doug read a newspaper article about how a first-time writer with no previous experience had just secured an ITV series after sending them a sit-com script on spec. Having learned that this was a possibility, the pair knuckled down and bashed out their first ever script, a sit-com about two inept private detectives, entitled The Big Time, and eagerly submitted it to the BBC. It was rejected. And to make matters worse, they both flunked their end-of-year exams having been too distracted to revise, and were kicked off the course. While the experience would no doubt provide inspiration further down the line, it was a double blow that threatened to strangle the budding writing partnership at birth. The duo moved in together in a flat above a supermarket in Manchester, and both got menial jobs in the same mail order warehouse. Unfortunately they were on different shifts, which left very little time for them to actually spend together. Nevertheless, they chipped away at their scripts when they could, and eventually wrote a radio sketch show pilot called Hot Potatoes. While it didn’t get commissioned, it did impress BBC comedy producer Bob Oliver Rogers enough to give them their first professional writing gig, providing sketches for a pilot called Listen Carefully, There May Be Questions. This got them their foot in the door at BBC Manchester, where they were mentored by legendary comedy producer Mike Craig. After a period of feeding on whatever freelance scraps could be thrown their way, they were finally commissioned for the first project of their own – Cliché. However, tragedy struck when one of the stars of the soon-to-be-recorded series, David Casey, died at the age of just 31. Cliché was put on hold. But an upturn in fortunes was around the corner, as Grant and Naylor were offered a year long contract as staff writers for BBC Radio. Unfortunately, the contract was for the two of them as a pair, so they had to share one writer’s salary between them. As well as the remounted Cliché, another of their major projects was Wrinkles, a sit-com set in a retirement home, written as a star vehicle for Tom Mennard. The pilot went down a storm with the studio audience, and it was commissioned for a series of six… which then attracted one of the lowest audience appreciation scores in radio history. Nevertheless, it did run to a second series, and is much more fondly remembered nowadays. The pair were also regularly writing for The News Huddlines and Week Ending, and were soon tasked with creating another star vehicle, this time for former Radio 1 DJ Tony Brandon. After a few false starts, the result was Wally Who?, although it was around this time that Rob and Doug’s attention was starting to turn to television. A chance meeting with Richard Stilgoe in the BBC bar led to their first TV credit, as contributors to sketch show A Kick Up The Eighties, featuring among others Stilgoe, Rik Mayall and Tracy Ullman. This in turn lead to a job on Ullman’s next series, Three of a Kind, produced by alternative comedy pioneer Paul Jackson. He was so impressed with their work that he offered them the chance to lead the writing team on a new, live Saturday night comedy show, Carrott’s Lib, in 1982. It was a baptism of fire, writing topical stand-up and sketches for Jasper Carrott to perform to millions on BBC One, but they thrived under the pressure. A year later, as they started work on the second series, Rob and Doug were commissioned for a further run of Cliché. The pair made a number of changes to the format, replacing all but one cast member and switching to a live audience. With a new producer in Alan Nixon, and a young Chris Barrie joining the returning Nick Maloney and Carrott’s Lib star Nick Wilton at the microphones, the show was renamed Son of Cliché, and first aired on 23rd August 1983. It was a revelation. Contemporary, unconventional and unpredictable, this iteration of the show was undoubtedly Rob and Doug’s first masterpiece. The second episode was particularly notable for featuring a sketch called Dave Hollins: Space Cadet. Rob was a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy, and had been badgering Doug for some time to write a sci-fi sketch, before he eventually relented in the face of a looming deadline. Now established as sought-after television writers, the pair made the move down to London, contributing to shows such as Paul Squire Esq., Cannon and Ball and Pushing Up Daisies, as well as second series of Son of Cliché. This run saw Dave Hollins becoming a recurring series, alongside other regulars like Freshers, Captain Invisible and the See-Through Kid, and Asso: Spanish Detective. Notably, the new Dave Hollins sketches established that the hapless space traveller was presumed to be the sole survivor of the human race, alone billions of years in the future, with only his talking computer for company. Meanwhile, work began on their magnum opus. A sit-com set in space, following ordinary working people, who happen to be stranded seven billion years into deep space. The pilot script for Red Dwarf was completed in August 1984, with Rob and Doug retreating to a holiday cottage in the Welsh mountains to get the work done. It was submitted to the BBC, and promptly rejected. It was resubmitted, and rejected again. And again. After the third rejection, Rob and Doug went to see the Head of Comedy, Gareth Gwenlan, who suggested they rewrite it to incorporate a sofa and French windows. This suggestion did not go down well. So Red Dwarf would have to wait. In the meantime, Central Television (an ITV franchise) had just launched a topical, satirical puppet show, and it had not started well. With ratings dwindling, Rob and Doug were parachuted in mid-series as head writers and script editors, in a desperate attempt to save the show. It succeeded. Under Grant Naylor’s helm it became a cultural phenomenon, striking fear into the establishment, changing public perceptions of politicians, and guiding the national discourse. Talents such as John Lloyd, Richard Curtis, Ben Elton, Ian Hislop, Jon Glover, and Harry Enfield came together with Rob and Doug to deliver devastating takedowns of the Thatcher government, controversial piss-takes of the Royal Family, and countless pop culture parodies. Such was the impact of Spitting Image that a novelty spin-off single was released in April 1986. Parodying the inane holiday disco hits of the time, The Chicken Song, with music by Philip Pope and lyrics by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, topped the UK singles charts for three weeks. An appearance on Top of the Pops inevitably followed, during which Billy Ocean reportedly lodged an official complaint that “the puppets were trying to put him off”. Rob and Doug left the show at the end of the 1986 series, its place in comedy history secured, and with Grant Naylor’s reputation as innovative, reliable and ingenious comedy writers assured. Freed from the constraints of such a labour intensive project, Rob and Doug turned their attentions back to their Red Dwarf idea. With the BBC suits in London still yet to be convinced, an unlikely backdoor route to the corporation’s airtime presented itself up in Manchester. Paul Jackson had produced the Ben Elton-penned Happy Families at BBC North West, and a slot had been allocated in the budget for a second series, which Elton had no intention of ever writing. There was therefore a gap for Commissioning Editor Peter Ridsdale-Scott to fill, and among the huge pile of scripts he had to choose from, there was one in particular that grabbed his attention and captured his imagination. Red Dwarf was finally going to launch. The green light was given, production was initiated and casting began. Ed Bye was brought on to produce and direct, with Jackson serving as executive producer. Having rejected the likes of Alfred Molina and Alan Rickman, this dream team brought together the core cast of impressionist Chris Barrie, poet Craig Charles, dancer Danny John-Jules and stand-up Norman Lovett. The script was not a million light years from Dave Hollins, featuring a lonely space traveller and his talking computer, but with the addition of a neurotic hologram and a life-form evolved from a cat, to beef up the ensemble without transgressing their self-imposed “no aliens, no robots” rule. While the studio in Manchester’s Oxford Road was being prepared, rehearsals began in Acton, West London, ahead of the first recording date of 10th January 1987. It was all going swimmingly, until the BBC’s electricians called a strike, in an industrial action that spanned the entire length of the studio schedule. One by one, each recording date was postponed, and it took until September for the production to be remounted. Rob Grant and Doug Naylor’s first television sit-com finally aired on BBC Two at 9pm on Monday 15th February 1988, and their lives would never be the same again. It was an immediate success in terms of both ratings and audience appreciation, and a second series was commissioned, written, recorded and aired before the year was out. Soon after, they were approached by Penguin Books to write a novelisation of the series. Not content to simply rewrite their existing scripts into prose, Rob and Doug expanded Red Dwarf‘s universe by fleshing out the characters, inventing new backstories, and completely reimagining concepts from the episodes into a whole new story. The result, commonly referred to as Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers but technically titled simply Red Dwarf, is a masterpiece. It topped the Sunday Times best-sellers list, and along with its 1990 sequel Better Than Life and 1992’s Omnibus edition, sold over two million copies collectively. Despite their success, Rob and Doug weren’t happy with certain elements of the programme’s look and feel. Rob in particular was appalled that the visual effects department had for some reason painted the eponymous ship red, of all things. Wanting their voices to be heard across all aspects of the show, the pair became producers for Series III in 1989 and Series IV in 1991. The latter was the first series to be made by Grant Naylor Productions, a new independent company set up by Rob, Doug, Paul Jackson and agent Charles Armitage, to build on what was already a runaway hit, with spin-off books starting to hit the shelves, a Fan Club up and running, a range of t-shirts and posters in the shops, and an official magazine on the way. Rob and Doug stepped up to executive producers for 1992’s Series V, and following the departure of new director Juliet May, also directed all or part of four episodes. A pivotal moment came towards the end of production, when Rob and Doug were approached by Universal Studios over a proposed American version of the series for NBC. They flew over to Hollywood to serve as executive producers for the project, and soon discovered that they absolutely hated almost everything about it. They pulled an all-nighter to deliver a whole new script, only for it to be rejected in favour of the original. When it became apparent that nothing would come of the deeply flawed pilot, the pair stayed on to oversee a second taster tape, comprised of scenes from the British series alongside new material with a slightly rejigged American cast. This too failed to lead to a commission, and the exhausting experience began to take its toll. Series VI was a notoriously difficult production, which took Grant Naylor’s habit of delivering scripts at the last possible moment to new levels, with changes being made to series finale Out Of Time while the actors were on set waiting for a take. At the same time, the duo were juggling a third Dwarf novel, a proposed Christmas special, development of new projects such as anthology series The Oo-ee-oo Dimension and dystopian movie The Thursday Man, plus a new sit-com pilot for ITV, The 10%ers. Broadcast as part of Carlton’s Comedy Playhouse strand in February 1993, the story, set in the offices of a theatrical agency, went down well enough to spawn two full series in 1994 and 1996. But Rob Grant wasn’t part of them. We don’t know the full story of what happened, and we likely never will, but at some point between Red Dwarf VI and The 10%ers Series 1, Rob and Doug decided to go their separate ways. It marked the end of an intense period of astronomic success, which of course required an ultimately unsustainable level of consistently hard, stressful, relentless work. As we’re keen on saying, the first thirty-six episodes of Red Dwarf exist in a very special bubble. The stories were densely packed with an abundance of ideas that most writers would spin entire series from, but that Rob and Doug were happy to explore for half an hour at a time before moving on to the next. The plots were tight, the gags were hilarious, and above all it was deeply rooted in character comedy, with the science-fiction concepts almost always in service of revealing yet more layers to the relationship between Lister and Rimmer, one of the finest combinations in sit-com history. Red Dwarf would continue to achieve brilliance on-and-off for decades after Rob left, but it was undeniably never quite the same as when both its genius creators were at the helm. That level of consistency, maintained across the first six series, was pure lightning in a bottle. Doug largely got custody of Red Dwarf in the split, but Rob wasn’t quite finished yet, as the contractually obligated third Grant Naylor novel morphed into two solo novels, at Rob’s suggestion. His 1996 book Backwards was the world’s first glimpse of Rob as a individual writer. The style was familiar – unsurprisingly, given that Rob was usually the one sat at the keyboard when he and Doug wrote together, putting their collective thoughts down on paper – but the tone was noticeably darker, showcasing a more macabre side to Rob’s humour. His final contribution to Red Dwarf in the 20th Century was for the 1997 BBC Video box-set Six of the Best, which came with a bonus CD of an equal parts informative and hilarious conversation about the genesis of the programme between Rob, Doug and Ed Bye. While Red Dwarf continued without him, Rob embarked on a varied and eclectic solo career, writing across multiple genres and mediums. After a stint as script editor on the animated sitcom Stressed Eric for Absolutely Productions, Rob saw two TV projects of his own broadcast within two months of each other. First was Dark Ages, a five-part historical sit-com airing on ITV in December 1999. Set in a medieval village at the turn of the previous millennium, and with much of the humour deriving from comparisons to contemporary events around the turn of the next millennium, the concept was created by Merle Nygate, but Rob was brought on by producer Justin Judd to develop the series, having previously worked together on Red Dwarf VI. Directed by Steve Bendelack and starring Phill Jupitus, Sheridan Smith, Alastair McGowan and Pauline McLynn, the finished product didn’t quite live up to the pedigree of the associated talent. Mere months later, Rob was the driving force behind Sky One’s first ever original comedy series, The Strangerers. With the broadcaster known primarily for American imports at this stage, it was a headline-grabbing commission, which afforded Rob more autonomy than he was used to with the terrestrial channels, as well as bigger budgets to play with. For Sky, Rob’s involvement gave them credibility as a creative force, and they used his name as a selling point, even referring to the series as Rob Grant’s The Strangerers in publicity, and indeed on the show’s title card. A co-production between Absolutely Productions and Rob’s own newly-formed Taken For Granted, the tale of two aliens (Red Dwarf alumni Mark Williams and Jack Doherty) on a fact-finding mission to Earth played out over nine episodes, starting on 15th February 2000, precisely twelve years to the day since Red Dwarf‘s debut. The humour was a combination of gentle social satire and extreme silliness, as our heroes learn how to blend in with human rituals, and discover the various functions of their bodies. It also showcased Rob’s penchant for gross-out comedy and body horror, not least with the aliens’ supervisor being decapitated within minutes of arriving on the planet. Shot single-camera and without a laugh track, the extended episode count allowed for serialised storytelling, with multiple threads from throughout the series converging in an epic finale with a cliffhanger ending. A second series never materialised, but overall the show feels ahead of its time in retrospect, helping to set a template that seems much more suited to the current box-set-bingeing era than the weekly linear delivery of the time. This proved to be Rob’s last credited work for television, but by the end of the year his first non-Red Dwarf novel was in the shops. Continuing to fall within the sci-fi comedy genre, Colony saw gambling addict Eddie O’Hare stow aboard a spaceship on a generational mission to find a new home for the human race, in the face of the imminent Earth apocalypse. Unfortunately he’s decapitated soon after boarding, only to find himself resurrected and grafted onto a clunky android body a few centuries later. It continued the thread of dark humour permeating Rob’s solo work, and was well received. Two further novels followed, both of which saw Rob expand into new genres. 2003’s Incompetence was a detective story set in a world where it’s illegal to discriminate on the grounds of competency, and consequently populated by people completely unsuitable for their respective jobs. Then in 2006’s Fat, Rob satirised contemporary reactions to obesity and dieting, in an innovative narrative that followed three separate protagonists – a TV chef, an anorexic teen, and a dodgy PR man – whose individual stories intersect in various ways. All four of Rob’s solo novels were classified as international bestsellers. Towards the end of the decade and into the next, Rob began to dabble with other outlets for his creativity. He turned to stand-up, taking the sort of satirical observations that had always peppered his writing into a new medium that put him front and centre. He also starting running comedy masterclasses, sharing his wisdom and experience with the next generation of writers. He even popped up on an episode of Celebrity Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? as Martin Kemp’s phone-a-friend, the pair being former neighbours. Even more surprisingly, he re-emerged on the Red Dwarf scene after an absence of over a decade, for the 2007 DVD release The Bodysnatcher Collection. As well as contributing to the documentaries and recording commentaries alongside Doug for several of the extras, the centrepiece of the release was the eponymous Bodysnatcher, an unfinished script originally written for Series 1, but dropped between the aborted rehearsal process and the remounted production. The story finally saw the light of day as a series of storyboards narrated by Chris Barrie, but it required a new ending, which saw Rob and Doug collaborate for the first time since 1993, and, as it turned out, for the final time. A few years after this last hurrah for Rob’s first writing partnership, he embarked on a new one, teaming up with Andrew Marshall, best known creating and writing 2point4 children, as well as his earlier work with David Renwick, which had followed a similar path from radio to TV as Grant Naylor’s. Rob and Andrew worked together for fifteen years, usually collaborating remotely over video chat, and the first project to come to fruition was The Quanderhorn Xperimentations in 2018. Released as both a Radio 4 series and a full-length novel roughly simultaneously, the sci-fi comedy, loosely pastiching the similar-sounding Quatermass franchise, was an ensemble piece set in a world stuck in a timeloop where it’s been 1952 for sixty-five years. The adventures of an eccentric professor, his part-insect son, a recovering amnesiac, a scientist with a clockwork brain and an alien with the mannerisms of Terry-Thomas also ran to a second radio series, titled simply Quanderhorn 2 in 2020. Between these two series, Rob and Andrew also piloted a surprising new departure for the duo, in which they branched out as performers as well as writers. The Nether Regions was a Twilight Zone parody that saw Rob return to sketch comedy for the first time since Spitting Image, and provided a rare opportunity (outside of audiobooks) to hear his carefully-constructed words coming out of his own mouth, with sketches including a 1920s society version of Batman, a money-grabbing evangelist radio show and a support group for people addicted to impersonating Alan Bennett. The cast was rounded out by a troupe of relatively unknown performers, and was the latest in a long legacy of Rob nurturing new talent, both in his casting choices and through his mentoring of upcoming writers. The pilot aired in October 2019, and a full series followed in January 2022. In addition to his work with Andrew, the latter stage of Rob’s career saw him seek a return to his biggest former success. At some point towards the end of the 2010s, Rob awoke from his role as sleeping partner at Grant Naylor Productions, and began to get involved in Red Dwarf once more, making an appearance on the set of the AA commercials starring the Dwarfers in 2019. This came hot on the tails of his first appearance at Dimension Jump, the convention of The Official Red Dwarf Fan Club, since the early 90s, when he appeared as a triple-act with Paul Jackson and Ed Bye at the 2018 event, marking 30 years of Red Dwarf. The trio closed the festivities with a live commentary on The End, along with a slideshow of rare photos from the Series 1 rehearsals. When Covid-19 struck the following year, and the UK was forced into lockdown, Rob was desperate to help relieve the monotony for himself and others, and wanted to give back to the Red Dwarf fans who had been so loyal to him for so long. He once again called upon Paul and Ed, and organised weekly Quarantine Commentary sessions, free of charge, over Zoom. Before long, these get-togethers became the highlight of the week for hundreds of regular attendees, and had a hugely positive impact at a very trying time. These then expanded into Lockdown Theatre, a charity initiative in aid of The Royal Theatrical Fund. This saw impressive casts including Chris Barrie, Robert Lindsay, Kevin Eldon, Martin Kemp, Ruby Wax and Felicity Montagu perform adaptations of various previously unperformed scripts, one of which was Rob’s own Cruel Aliens, a long-rumoured animated sitcom project that never quite got off the ground. Rob’s lockdown activity culminated in an unprecedented contribution to the Fan Club’s Holly Hop online event in 2021, in which fans would be given the chance to perform a brand new Red Dwarf script, written by Rob himself. The resultant mini-episode Into The Gloop gave an alternative resolution to Out of Time‘s cliffhanger, and seemed to suggest a path for many more alternate-universe stories to follow. Unfortunately, this occasion was overshadowed by news that emerged a few days before, that GNP had become embroiled in an internal legal battle over unpaid invoices, the rights to the franchise, and the make-up of the company board. The situation was eventually resolved in 2023, with joint statements from Rob and Doug hinting at a bright future ahead, but ultimately the kerfuffle cost both of them two precious years that could otherwise have been spent forging a new era for Red Dwarf. However, Rob had been bursting with ideas for much of the previous three decades, and immediately set about pitching a new prequel series, Titan, featuring the pre-accident Lister and Rimmer becoming embroiled in adventure and intrigue whilst on shore leave. Co-written with Andrew Marshall, the pair spent two years meticulously crafting the first new Red Dwarf novel for thirty years, which was officially announced on the 19th February 2026. Rob was excited to see the online reaction to the news, busily organising publicity for the forthcoming release, and giving interviews about the project. He was so thrilled that he’d finally been able to return once more to his most famous and most celebrated creation. And then less than a week later, he died. Rob won’t get to see the final piece in his prolific oeuvre being released. It’s the cruellest possible way to end the story, but what a story it was. A gifted young lad from Salford who dropped out of university in pursuit of his dream of being a writer, and actually pulled it off. A man whose gifts for humour, character development, imagination and wit amount to what can only be described as genius. A man who dealt with more than his fair share of troubles and heartache along the way, but who leaves behind one hell of a legacy. One of Rob’s greatest gifts was nothing to do with his professional career. It was his compassion and empathy. He would go out of his way to help people, both inside and outside of work. He genuinely cared about people, no matter who they were. Take me, for instance. He knew me as a Red Dwarf fan, through G&T and Dimension Jump. It would have been perfectly reasonable for him to think of me as just a fan, someone who he could be amiable with but keep at an emotional distance. But somehow, over the last few years, we became what I can only describe as friends, as ridiculous as that seems when you’re talking about someone you idolised. He asked me for help and advice for Quarantine Commentaries and Lockdown Theatre. He bought birthday presents for my daughter, and frequently asked for pics of her when he needed cheering up. He consoled me when we lost Seb Patrick, reddwarf.co.uk editor and my best friend. He’d text me about how Aston Villa were getting on. He didn’t need to do any of that. But that’s the man he was. I hope he was aware of what he meant to people, which was been evidenced by the widespread outpouring of grief over the last few days. So many of us owe so much to Rob Grant, co-creator of the programme that has enriched millions of lives. For some, Red Dwarf is just a show they remember fondly, for others it’s been a welcome escape when life gets tough. Some have formed life-long friendships based on mutual love for the show. Some have found their partners through the fandom, and there are countless children – my own included – who would never have been born if their parents hadn’t met through something that Rob Grant co-created. Aside from the work, aside from the awards, the ratings, the book sales, the pivotal role he played in the history of British comedy, aside from anything else, Rob Grant’s legacy is the joy he gave to others. Joy is what he brought to the world, and that is how he’ll be remembered.
Ian, this is beautifully written. I’m sure Rob would be very grateful, as I (and almost certainly we) all are. Even now, still managed to learn something about Rob that I didn’t know before. Thank you for pulling this together, especially so soon after his exit. “There goes Rob. Bye Rob. That was Rob!”“Really? I thought it was Mary, Queen of Scots”
Wonderful words. Welled up at the end there. I was listening to the last episode of the first series of Reluctant Persuaders last night and Rob pops up in the role of a message from building maintenance. He had a really warm, affectionate voice, didn’t he? And hearing his laughter during the lockdown commentaries and in interviews was a wonderful experience.
Back in 2010, I was adapting Incompetence as a screenplay – mostly to teach myself how to do that kind of adaptation. At some point, I moved apartments, and my copy of the book got lost in the move. I took to Twitter to share the loss, because in 2010 everybody shared everything on Twitter. Rob actually DM’d me offering to arrange a copy to be left for me at my local Waterstone’s. I live in Los Angeles, so my nearest Waterstone’s was about 5,200 miles away, but it was an incredibly kind offer. Never finished that screenplay. Might have to dust it off again.
Sorry for your loss, Ian – we’re all feeling it, but yours sounds more personal than the average fan.
From his publishers… Gollancz was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Rob Grant, and send all of our love to his friends and family. We first published Rob over 20 years ago with COLONY, and most recently in 2018 with THE QUANDERHORN XPERIMENTATIONS, co-written with Andrew Marshall. We were just gearing up for the imminent publication of RED DWARF: TITAN by the team, and it is such a shame that he won’t see the outcome of all of the plans and ideas we had been discussing over the last few weeks and months. With the blessing of his family and Andrew, we will go ahead with publication – it will be a fitting legacy for one of the funniest writers we have ever been privileged to work with.
A lovely tribute, Ian; thoughtful and emotional. I love how you finished this with Rob being remembered by the joy he brought to the world, perfect. RIP Rob.
Beautiful obituary, Ian. Thank you. I didn’t realise how close you’d become to Rob in recent years, so I can only imagine how much harder that made the news hit. Ultimately trivial point of order: I was under the impression that the factoid about the first Dwarf novel not technically being called Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers (that people just called it that because of the sign on the cover which was not intended to be part of the title) was a myth. My copy is from the 2nd printing, and ‘Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers’ isn’t on the spine but it is on the title page, right below ‘Red Dwarf’. I figured this is probably not the kind of thing that would change between the 1st and 2nd printing of the 1st edition of the book, but if anyone has a copy from the 1st printing to check, I’d be glad to be proven wrong. With the blessing of his family and Andrew, we will go ahead with publication – it will be a fitting legacy for one of the funniest writers we have ever been privileged to work with. OK, I assume this was just a formality, but imagine if they decided to just cancel the book. Imagine!
Beautiful obituary, Ian. Thank you. I didn’t realise how close you’d become to Rob in recent years, so I can only imagine how much harder that made the news hit. Ultimately trivial point of order: I was under the impression that the factoid about the first Dwarf novel not technically being called Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers (that people just called it that because of the sign on the cover which was not intended to be part of the title) was a myth. My copy is from the 2nd printing, and ‘Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers’ isn’t on the spine but it is on the title page, right below ‘Red Dwarf’. I figured this is probably not the kind of thing that would change between the 1st and 2nd printing of the 1st edition of the book, but if anyone has a copy from the 1st printing to check, I’d be glad to be proven wrong. I *think* mine is a first edition. It just says “first published 1989” – there’s no other dates to suggest it’s a later publication. Spine, back cover, and very first inside page introducing Grant Naylor says “Red Dwarf”, but the next page, presumably the title page, says “Red Dwarf” followed by “Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers” below it in smaller font. Followed by Grant Naylor below that, with the publisher at the bottom.
Ultimately trivial point of order: I was under the impression that the factoid about the first Dwarf novel not technically being called Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers (that people just called it that because of the sign on the cover which was not intended to be part of the title) was a myth. My copy is from the 2nd printing, and ‘Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers’ isn’t on the spine but it is on the title page, right below ‘Red Dwarf’. I figured this is probably not the kind of thing that would change between the 1st and 2nd printing of the 1st edition of the book, but if anyone has a copy from the 1st printing to check, I’d be glad to be proven wrong. I looked up what claims to be a first edition on eBay and it appears so https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/287159275849
Thanks for looking into it, Quinn and Christopher. But just to help with your efforts, what you’re looking for is the row of numbers below the “First published 1989” line, on the page immediately after the title page. Whatever the lowest number is in that row, that’s the printing number. So the one in the eBay listing is in fact the 18th printing.
Thanks for looking into it, Quinn and Christopher. But just to help with your efforts, what you’re looking for is the row of numbers below the “First published 1989” line, on the page immediately after the title page. Whatever the lowest number is in that row, that’s the printing number. So the one in the eBay listing is in fact the 18th printing. Interesting. What do all the numbers mean? Mine is 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 18, 16, 14 So 13th? Or this is where I find out I’m in Lost.
I think cwickham and Flap Jack are talking at cross-purposes, and both seem to be right. It appears to be an 18th printing of the first edition. So in theory, it should be the same as the first printing of that first edition. If it changed between printings, it would become a new edition.
IWCD is technically the title, but I still reckon it was someone other than the authors taking a cover art gag too literally when making it so. I didn’t know it was considered the title until I got the cassette version later.
Yeah, so I have the 2nd printing of the 1st edition. Which means if there were no changes between the 1st and 2nd printing, which is most likely, then we already have the answer – the title was always Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers intentionally. But even if it’s unlikely because big changes usually only happen with new editions not new printings, that small window of opportunity for a change does exist, and that prevents me from proclaiming “This particular piece of trivia is false!” with 100% certainty. Quinn’s copy is a 13th printing and Podey’s is a 27th printing. IWCD was clearly popular to an unexpected degree, so I think a 1st printing copy would have been bought pretty close to the original release date. Obviously it’s fine if nobody here has it though. If there’s no available proof then we should consider it untrue. I just thought I’d take the opportunity to try upgrading “almost definitely not true” to either “definitely not true” or “surprisingly, true”. IWCD is technically the title, but I still reckon it was someone other than the authors taking a cover art gag too literally when making it so. I didn’t know it was considered the title until I got the cassette version later. If so, it would be cool to rediscover what interview with Rob or Doug was the origin of the trivia. Because either it’s not true at all, or the fact is “The title of the first Red Dwarf novel was decided without Rob and Doug’s input”, which is decidedly different. No retailers or readers made any mistakes in that version of history.
I never knew he was involved with Stressed Eric, I used to love that cartoon Quanderhorn is in my canon of “stuff from 2015-2020 that I’m nostalgic for”
Thanks, Ian, for this really good piece. Very thorough and informative – there are some behind the scenes details here that I didn’t know or had forgotten. And thanks for devoting so much space to his post-1993 writing – I confess that, other than Incompetence, I’m less familiar than I should be with most of his non-Red Dwarf work. Incidentally, I think my copy of this obituary is a first edition. I’ll let someone else print it out so they can lay claim to a first printing.
but ultimately the kerfuffle cost both of them two precious years that could otherwise have been spent forging a new era for Red Dwarf. Given COVID and an aging cast the early 2020s were probally scuppered anyway. Not sure if that is comforting or not. The deeper frustration has been the lack of interest in commisioning either of their pitches for television SINCE 2023.
Beautiful this. I just wish I’d not read it on a tablet in a room full of other people. Not realising how close Rob had become makes it all the more heartbreaking, but I think you’ve more than done him justice here.
All I know is that Red Dwarf has been instrumental in keeping me sane these past few years. Seeing a bunch of losers make due in deep space in a crapsack universe where all they find is humanity’s folly, dreck, and a whole lot of *nothing*, all by themselves, even though none of them are fully likeable or team players, and somehow keeping their levity? It was a comfort and an inspiration to keep holding on. And I’m grateful for that. Thank you, Mr. Grant – maybe there will be another side to all of this silliness than just a post-mortem redistribution of our molecules?
Thanks Ian, that was beautifully written. Hopefully when the BBC finally get round to an obituary, they can reference yours and avoid including the same clunking errors that all the others have. I’ve struggled to formulate my thoughts around Rob’s passing over the past week. I can’t speak much on a personal level, I never knew him, although I’ve lost close family members in recent years, and can only extend my heartfelt sympathies to his family and friends – it’s an awful thing to go through. As a Red Dwarf fan, however – going back and looking at the early series and novels, it’s striking the extent to which death features in Rob and Doug’s writing. I don’t know whether it’s enhanced by the funereal tone and atmosphere of the early episodes, but it lingers pervasively throughout. I’ve found Red Dwarf to be quite helpful to me when dealing with the loss of loved ones in the past. The unsentimental approach to dealing with mortality, the reminders of the fleeting nature of life and the importance of making the best out of the time you have. I mean, the idea that we’re all temporary blips of existence in an unknowable void is arguably a bit of a nihilistic viewpoint, but crucially – it very rarely comes across as cruel or lacking humanity. It sounds weird, but Rob’s own writing on the subject of mortality, which was clear-eyed, pragmatic and without fear, is strangely comforting at this time.
It sounds weird, but Rob’s own writing on the subject of mortality, which was clear-eyed, pragmatic and without fear, is strangely comforting at this time. Very true and well said. If anyone needs me I’ll be in the bog with my head down the bowl reading Rob the football results.
I mean, the idea that we’re all temporary blips of existence in an unknowable void is arguably a bit of a nihilistic viewpoint I’ve always liked Peter Cook’s line: ‘As I looked out into the night sky, across all those infinite stars, it made me realize how insignificant they are.’
I mean, the idea that we’re all temporary blips of existence in an unknowable void is arguably a bit of a nihilistic viewpoint I’ve always liked Peter Cook’s line: ‘As I looked out into the night sky, across all those infinite stars, it made me realize how insignificant they are.’ Peter Cook probably had more wisdom in him than I have.
As a Red Dwarf fan, however – going back and looking at the early series and novels, it’s striking the extent to which death features in Rob and Doug’s writing. I don’t know whether it’s enhanced by the funereal tone and atmosphere of the early episodes, but it lingers pervasively throughout. I’ve found Red Dwarf to be quite helpful to me when dealing with the loss of loved ones in the past. The unsentimental approach to dealing with mortality, the reminders of the fleeting nature of life and the importance of making the best out of the time you have. I mean, the idea that we’re all temporary blips of existence in an unknowable void is arguably a bit of a nihilistic viewpoint, but crucially – it very rarely comes across as cruel or lacking humanity. It sounds weird, but Rob’s own writing on the subject of mortality, which was clear-eyed, pragmatic and without fear, is strangely comforting at this time. This has also been something that’s been rattling around my brain for the last 5 days. I’ve always struggled with the concept of death, but Rob and Doug’s writing has always made it more palatable as a subject to deal with. Still doesn’t stop it feeling like a cruel set of circumstances, though. Amazing words, Ian. I feel incredibly, incredibly privileged to have had as much interaction with Rob as we have as fans as well as just as people and have never taken those privileges lightly. I hold those memories of talking with him even closer to my chest now. Godspeed and bless you, Rob.
Paul Jackson had produced the Ben Elton-penned Happy Families at BBC North West, and a slot had been allocated in the budget for a second series, which Elton had no intention of ever writing. There was therefore a gap for Commissioning Editor Peter Ridsdale-Scott to fill, and among the huge pile of scripts he had to choose from, there was one in particular that grabbed his attention and captured his imagination. Red Dwarf was finally going to launch. Just on this small point, did we ever get to the bottom of whether it was indeed Happy Families as Paul Jackson said on the DVD documentary, or (as Ben Elton later suggested) an aborted second series of Filthy Rich & Catflap that provided the opportunity for Red Dwarf to get made? With the former being a 1985 series and the latter 1987 it seems like Elton could be right and Jackson maybe misremembered which series gave way, especially given that there were apparently initial plans for a second series of Filthy Rich & Catflap which then fell apart.
I do think Happy Families makes more sense considering the timelines – you have to remember the original shooting schedule for Dwarf, not what we ended up with. Filthy Rich & Catflap didn’t begin airing until January 87, by which point RD was already in rehearsals. Seems more likely to me that Happy Families would go out in 85, Peter Ridsdale-Scott and Paul realised there wouldn’t be a second series in 86, and Dwarf got commissioned in time to start production in very early 87 – literally the same week FR&C started airing. Otherwise you have to assume that they made Filthy Rich and Catflap in 86, and already knew well before it even aired that a) it was good enough for a second series, and b) there wouldn’t be a second series. I don’t know the exact dates for when Red Dwarf officially got the green light, but it must have been months before FR&C aired. There’s a chance that Paul got it wrong and Ben got it right, but I think it’s more likely that the story we’ve always been told is the right one.
Oh, and with regards to the earlier conversation about the title of the first novel. I maintain that the official title is Red Dwarf, but concede that Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers is indeed a legit sub-title, as evidenced by the inclusion on the title page. My rationale is that both the front and rear covers of the Omnibus say “Red Dwarf and Better Than Life”, as does the contents page. The copyright notices say “Red Dwarf first published in 1989″, while the author info says “Red Dwarf was an enormous bestseller when published as a Penguin paperback in 1989. Better Than Life was the not-very-long-awaited sequel”. It does, like the individual paperback, include IWCD as a sub-title on the title page for the first novel’s section. So it’s either called “Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers” or just “Red Dwarf“. It perhaps wasn’t worth making the distinction in the obituary, but arguing the toss over very pedantic things is a good distraction from processing the reality of the last week, and I’m grateful for our community, as always.
I do think Happy Families makes more sense considering the timelines – you have to remember the original shooting schedule for Dwarf, not what we ended up with. Filthy Rich & Catflap didn’t begin airing until January 87, by which point RD was already in rehearsals. Seems more likely to me that Happy Families would go out in 85, Peter Ridsdale-Scott and Paul realised there wouldn’t be a second series in 86, and Dwarf got commissioned in time to start production in very early 87 – literally the same week FR&C started airing. Otherwise you have to assume that they made Filthy Rich and Catflap in 86, and already knew well before it even aired that a) it was good enough for a second series, and b) there wouldn’t be a second series. I don’t know the exact dates for when Red Dwarf officially got the green light, but it must have been months before FR&C aired. There’s a chance that Paul got it wrong and Ben got it right, but I think it’s more likely that the story we’ve always been told is the right one. Oh yeah, that timing makes more sense in that case.
Oh, and with regards to the earlier conversation about the title of the first novel. I maintain that the official title is Red Dwarf, but concede that Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers is indeed a legit sub-title, as evidenced by the inclusion on the title page. My rationale is that both the front and rear covers of the Omnibus say “Red Dwarf and Better Than Life”, as does the contents page. The copyright notices say “Red Dwarf first published in 1989″, while the author info says “Red Dwarf was an enormous bestseller when published as a Penguin paperback in 1989. Better Than Life was the not-very-long-awaited sequel”. It does, like the individual paperback, include IWCD as a sub-title on the title page for the first novel’s section. So it’s either called “Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers” or just “Red Dwarf“. It perhaps wasn’t worth making the distinction in the obituary, but arguing the toss over very pedantic things is a good distraction from processing the reality of the last week, and I’m grateful for our community, as always. That’s totally fair, thanks Ian. If it is a misunderstanding then it’s clear how it could happen, with the title being referred to in short as just “RED DWARF” in most official instances. It makes me think that the subtitle was a late addition by Rob and Doug (based on the cover too perhaps) and so they were only able to get it onto the title page and not the spine or other official documentation. “Readers got into the habit of referring to a book by its official subtitle which is helpfully specific, and not the main title which is just the name of the whole series” is not quite as fun trivia as “Readers saw some decoration on the cover of a book, foolishly thought it was part of the title, and it caught on”, but personally I prefer it to be the case – because it means I don’t need to suppress the urge to rudely say “ummm actually that’s not what it’s called, actually” every time someone calls the book something other than “Red Dwarf the novel”. Glad to know too that the title pedantry was enjoyable, because I was feeling a little bad about temporarily derailing this comments section.
The first novel is the Red Dwarf equivalent of the White Album, in that people usually refer to it by an aspect of its cover instead of its official title. “Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers” unambiguously refers to the novel, whereas “Red Dwarf” could refer to the book, the TV series, or the ship. I suppose you could say “Red Dwarf the book” instead, but that somehow sounds more awkward than “Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers”, despite the latter taking longer to say/write.
It is like that, if the inside cover of the White Album reads “The Beatles”, line break, “The White Album”.
It is like that, if the inside cover of the White Album reads “The Beatles”, line break, “The White Album”. It does say that, but unfortunately it’s in all-white text.
Ian was looking to bump the ‘Masked Singer’ farrago down the threads by going on a Dwarf-focussed murder spree to allow for more news articles and forum traffic. But ironically, despite that, the greatest amount of traffic that’s issued since the latest murder has been focussed on the title of a late 1980s Red Dwarf novel. He could have just opened a thread on that at any time.
The example I always think of is The X-Files: Fight the Future being a mashup of the title simply being The X-Files and the tagline on the poster. But now it’s pretty much treated as the official title.
The example I always think of is The X-Files: Fight the Future being a mashup of the title simply being The X-Files and the tagline on the poster. But now it’s pretty much treated as the official title. Oh yeah, good one. The tie-in books used it as the title at the time. (Though that wasn’t the book I had. Mine had colour photos of Scully gasping with alien slime all over her and stuff. And probably other photos that I looked at less often).
The example I always think of is The X-Files: Fight the Future being a mashup of the title simply being The X-Files and the tagline on the poster. But now it’s pretty much treated as the official title. See also Edge Of Tomorrow and Live. Die. Repeat.
See also Edge Of Tomorrow and Live. Die. Repeat. Live. Die. Repeat. is a way better title. I always wanted to name something Abort, Retry, Fail.
I always wanted to name something Abort, Retry, Fail. That’s actually the official subtitle of the next Red Dwarf special.
See also Edge Of Tomorrow and Live. Die. Repeat. Live. Die. Repeat. is a way better title. I always wanted to name something Abort, Retry, Fail. UK number 1 single ‘Your Woman’ by White Town was actually the a-side of the >Abort, Retry, Fail?_ EP
What do you call the first story of Doctor Who? What do you call the second? What do you call the TV movie? Does anyone ever actually call a self-titled album by the name of the band? Do you ever refer to something as “Terminator 1” or “Crash Bandicoot 1” despite the 1 never being part of the actual title? Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers is an excellent title for a book, and I never would have known it wasn’t actually the title if it wasn’t for this thread. But does it actually have anything remotely to do with Red Dwarf? None of them are careful drivers. Is it implying they are not welcome?
What do you call the first story of Doctor Who? What do you call the second? What do you call the TV movie? An Unearthly Child The Daleks The TV Movie
But does it actually have anything remotely to do with Red Dwarf? None of them are careful drivers. Is it implying they are not welcome? That’s why it only really makes sense as a cover detail. The space roadsign could literally exist in universe as some quirky thing someone put there for some reason, but it doesn’t really mean anything. But it still makes more sense than Last Human.
If Rob is in the afterlife, then he will be omniscient and thus he’s now seen all the Doug era episodes and read Last Human.
If Rob is in the afterlife, then he will be omniscient and thus he’s now seen all the Doug era episodes and read Last Human. You become omniscient in the afterlife? I thought that was just a deity thing. I’m sure that an eternal paradise would give you the ability to learn anything you want to, but if you have it forced upon you, then you might just be in the other place.
You become omniscient in the afterlife? I thought that was just a deity thing. I’m sure that an eternal paradise would give you the ability to learn anything you want to, but if you have it forced upon you, then you might just be in the other place. “I’ve died and gone to the afterlife? That means I’ll get to learn the answers to all the questions I’ve ever wondered about!” *The dead soul’s mind is instantly flooded with the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations of everything that has ever happened or will happen in the universe* “Nooooo that’s too much information!”
Obituary from the Guardian today: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/mar/04/rob-grant-obituary
Obituary from the Guardian today: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/mar/04/rob-grant-obituary That’s a nice obit, although the old “won a cult following” seems to play down Red Dwarf’s success a bit. (Also interesting to read the observation that under Doug alone, Red Dwarf lost a certain surreal edge. Not really sure where that idea stems from.)
I saw a “Rob did the funny, Doug did the sci-fi” in the wild the other day and it took great strength to just move on with my life
If Rob is in the afterlife, then he will be omniscient and thus he’s now seen all the Doug era episodes and read Last Human. You become omniscient in the afterlife? I thought that was just a deity thing. I’m sure that an eternal paradise would give you the ability to learn anything you want to, but if you have it forced upon you, then you might just be in the other place. Well, you’d also be in perfect peace with the universe, so nothing would emotionally upset you anymore.
I took the surrealism point to be a response to more grounded later episodes like Duct Soup, Blue, Can of Worms and Timewave.
Even so, there’s nothing in the Doug era that compares to the craziness of Balance of Power, in which a man attempts to pass an exam.
I saw a “Rob did the funny, Doug did the sci-fi” in the wild the other day and it took great strength to just move on with my life Saw a similar thing about Rob’s departure in ’93 and the post-bubble episodes proving he was better at telly than Doug, but I figured I wasn’t in the mood to facetiously ask if they preferred Dark Ages to the 10%ers.
Maybe an odd strand to pick at, but does anybody know why that BBC-era photograph is credited to UKTV? Presuming it’s more that they picked up some extra material to go along with the episodes when they got the rights, rather than a miscredit?
When Rob left there was definitely a shift in quality. But when it comes to saying which writer did who, what or how. People try and make it simple, but it really isn’t that simple.
If Rob is in the afterlife, then he will be omniscient and thus he’s now seen all the Doug era episodes and read Last Human. You become omniscient in the afterlife? I thought that was just a deity thing. I’m sure that an eternal paradise would give you the ability to learn anything you want to, but if you have it forced upon you, then you might just be in the other place. In an eternal afterlife you’d probally learn everything eventually just to stave off the boredom, like Holly reading everything ever written. Rob might need more than a week though, if time passes the same way beyond the veil.
Small note: Rob denies writing for Week Ending in your 2019 dwarfcast with him, and Doug denies writing for Week Ending in his recent RHLSTP book club…
