Rob Grant – the ultimate tribute News Posted by Ian Symes on 6th March 2026, 12:08 Just a very quick one to point you in the direction of this superb piece on TOS, in which dozens of friends, family members and colleagues pay tribute to the great Rob Grant. In the time it took me to read it, I laughed, cried, gasped and even found myself actually applauding. With tributes from all of Rob’s immediate family, university friends, Red Dwarf cast and crew aplenty, and other famous names like Ian Hislop, Sir Lenny Henry, Martin and Shirlie Kemp and Robert Lindsay, this is well worth setting aside a chunk of time for. Kudos to GNP (whatever that is, these days) for marking Rob’s passing and celebrating his life on an official platform, and to Rob’s friend and mine Curtis Threadgold for pulling off this epic undertaking. My heart may still be broken, but this has definitely warmed it up a bit.
Well done TOS. I was starting to worry that there would be no acknowledgement on the site of Rob’s passing. Not a dry eye in the house at some of those tributes. Very moving.
Oh, unbelievable work from Joe Grant. Just perfect. There will never be a more apposite Red Dwarf reference.
I found Craig’s bittersweetness over the “divorce” very touching and earnest. Same here. It makes those original Grant Naylor years feel like even more of a special bubble.
Yep some beautiful messages there, thanks for sharing (especially as given the state of TOS I’d kind of stopped checking it regularly and so wouldn’t have spotted this for a while!) And yeah, the words from Craig are hard to read 😢
The really tough part is when he said he thought there would be some kind of reconciliation in future, but now that will never happen. At least for Red Dwarf fans there will be Titan to look forward to, which will feel like a long-awaited return if not exactly a reconciliation and will be a way to remember Rob and hear new Red Dwarf from him one last time.
What a beautiful and poignant collection of tributes. The official site has done Rob proud with these. Bravo to all involved. As other’s are saying, Craig’s words are particularly moving. The rawness with which he expresses his sorrow and unresolved emotions comes from a place of real love. I’m very glad they were included.
I found Craig’s bittersweetness over the “divorce” very touching and earnest. Same here. It makes those original Grant Naylor years feel like even more of a special bubble. “We was like the Roman Empire. The Red Dwarf was like the Roman Empire.”
Oh, unbelievable work from Joe Grant. Just perfect. There will never be a more apposite Red Dwarf reference. Yep. No notes. He wins the reference game forever
I think someone’s been slicing an onion in here. Oh my. That is one hell of a tribute. To answer Ian’s question- what is GNP these days – from Danny’s lines, it looks like it’s Paul Jackson who’s collected some of these, alongside Curis? What an amazing job. Of course, it leads to the question – why is the demise of this guy not better known? Where are the other obits? Ian Hislop and Robert Lindsday aren’t just going to chuck those paragraphs together for just anyone, are they?
I found Craig’s bittersweetness over the “divorce” very touching and earnest. Yes, interesting how Danny stayed in touch, but Craig didn’t seem to.
I found Craig’s bittersweetness over the “divorce” very touching and earnest. Yes, interesting how Danny stayed in touch, but Craig didn’t seem to. It seems like it hit Craig particularly hard. I guess like with an actual divorce, the “kids” all reacted differently to their folks splitting up.
Oh, unbelievable work from Joe Grant. Just perfect. There will never be a more apposite Red Dwarf reference. Yep. No notes. He wins the reference game forever It’s magnificent (and heartbreaking).
Not to derail things too much, but this stood out in Geoff Posner’s tribute: 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. Sounds like an ideal G&TV to do in Rob’s honour if an off-air can be found
I’m so pleased this has been received as well as it has. There was a lot of emotion bound up in this and we really wanted to do Rob justice. And yes, as alluded to in this thread, I did have help. In fact a few people really stepped up to pull this together. It turns out that people really loved Rob and they wanted to go the extra mile for him. I hope it shows.
Not to derail things too much, but this stood out in Geoff Posner’s tribute: 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. Sounds like an ideal G&TV to do in Rob’s honour if an off-air can be found https://youtu.be/OSs6vJeXz2E?si=C9GdtoaTnXbc56e9&t=2135
It seems like it hit Craig particularly hard. I guess like with an actual divorce, the “kids” all reacted differently to their folks splitting up. Seems that way. Sometimes I forget that Craig started out as a poet, and is still a poet at heart. I’ve read his piece multiple times now and it’s one of the most moving and human tributes I’ve ever read.
It seems like it hit Craig particularly hard. I guess like with an actual divorce, the “kids” all reacted differently to their folks splitting up. Seems that way. Sometimes I forget that Craig started out as a poet, and is still a poet at heart. I’ve read his piece multiple times now and it’s one of the most moving and human tributes I’ve ever read. Hand in hand with hearing his voice cracking on his beautiful earlier tribute in Radio 6, it’s really knocked him for six – and he clearly also really loved the guy, too. All that ‘wasted time’ thing and ‘we thought we’d catch up again someday’. So true.
I’m so pleased this has been received as well as it has. There was a lot of emotion bound up in this and we really wanted to do Rob justice. And yes, as alluded to in this thread, I did have help. In fact a few people really stepped up to pull this together. It turns out that people really loved Rob and they wanted to go the extra mile for him. I hope it shows. You’ve done an astounding job.
I’m so pleased this has been received as well as it has. There was a lot of emotion bound up in this and we really wanted to do Rob justice. And yes, as alluded to in this thread, I did have help. In fact a few people really stepped up to pull this together. It turns out that people really loved Rob and they wanted to go the extra mile for him. I hope it shows. You did him proud, it’s a beautiful tribute. Well done 🩷
And now I’m crying. Some incredible words in there. Kath’s was beautiful. Paul being listed as “old boot” made me laugh. Joe’s perfect reference. Just the overwhelming amount of love and respect from all parties. And how well it captures the Dwarfers. Doug, not sure of the tone to use to write about his former best friend. Danny, veering from profound to indecipherable. Chris, formal and respectful. Norm, using it as an opportunity to moan. And Craig’s unbearable, raw and human words.
Was the audition Hattie mentions for Holly or Hilly I wonder? Holly. She’s stated she was offered Hilly without an audition but that she had to audition for Holly.
Holly. She’s stated she was offered Hilly without an audition but that she had to audition for Holly. The audition for Mellie however was brutal.
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 True, it’d probally have been an even greater headfuck to learn of Titan AFTER his passing, even if we knew a novelization was on the table.
An absolutely staggering tribute. I’m still staggering. This reminded me once again of how important this community is and that’s one hell of a legacy that Rob Grant helped to forge. Bravo, Curtis and the TOS team. 👏 P.S In time, when things don’t feel so raw, I think it’d be fitting to put Joe Grant’s tribute in the “Quote, Unquote” section.
I’m so pleased this has been received as well as it has. There was a lot of emotion bound up in this and we really wanted to do Rob justice. And yes, as alluded to in this thread, I did have help. In fact a few people really stepped up to pull this together. It turns out that people really loved Rob and they wanted to go the extra mile for him. I hope it shows. It very much shows. Lovely work.
Finally got around to reading this fantastic tribute. I feel a bit bad now for thinking there wasn’t going to be anything on TOS at all to acknowledge Rob’s passing, when this was all being put together. Craig’s words especially are really affecting. Well done to everybody involved.
It seems like it hit Craig particularly hard. I guess like with an actual divorce, the “kids” all reacted differently to their folks splitting up. Seems that way. Sometimes I forget that Craig started out as a poet, and is still a poet at heart. I’ve read his piece multiple times now and it’s one of the most moving and human tributes I’ve ever read. 100% agree on this. Reading his words were so moving and maybe it’s because subconsciously we closely associate him with Lister so much, it took me by surprise he was such a wordsmith. Then, as you say, I remember he’s always been quite an eloquent guy offscreen
Reading his words were so moving and maybe it’s because subconsciously we closely associate him with Lister so much, it took me by surprise he was such a wordsmith. He’s a poet, and you didn’t even know it.
I found Doug’s tribute very moving. With so much history between them, I imagine it’s hit him hard. There was a lot of love in his words.
