Sad news for fans of classic UK sci-fi today as it’s been reported that co-creator of cult classic series Red Dwarf, Rob Grant, has died. His passing was first reported by stalwart Red Dwarf fan-site Ganymede & Titan with a short statement. Such is the immediate emotional response from fans that the site has crashed. Here’s the statement:
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“We at Ganymede & Titan are heartbroken to pass on a message from Rob Grant’s family.
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.”
Grant was instrumental in Red Dwarf‘s early history, collaborating with co-creator Doug Naylor (including their work on two unaired Red Dwarf USA pilots – one of which starred Star Trek: DS9‘s Terry Farrell). The pair had previously worked together on various UK comedy series, including satirical BBC show Spitting Image. They began working on Red Dwarf as an evolution of sketch Dave Hollins: Space Cadet, with the show going on to enjoy a 12-season run (interrupted by some hiatuses), and a TV special. Grant left the show, citing creative differences in the 1990s, and expressed a desire to not have Red Dwarf be the only thing he was remembered for. So great was his work on it, that would always be impossible for fans.
Red Dwarf’s First Release in 6 Years Was Just Announced
Only a couple of weeks ago, it was announced – prematurely it turns out – that Grant was returning to the world of Red Dwarf for the first novel in 30 years, titled Titan in a collaboration with Andrew Marshall. That naturally sparked excitement among Red Dwarf fans, but the writers told Ganymede & Titan that some of the details revealed weren’t quite true in an exclusive statement:
“A couple of bookshops seem to have misunderstood the publisher’s embargo, and made a premature pre-launch of the new RD novel, Titan. It’s not even been through the final copy edit yet. They also announced a publication date in July, which is the first we’ve heard of it, and over which we have no control. It’s still not confirmed.’
They also revealed the full synopsis of the novel, which is a prequel starring younger versions of series leads Arnold Rimmer and Dave Lister in an adventure set before the Red Dwarf disaster that wiped out the entire crew. You can read more about the book at Ganymede & TV. Hopefully, the book will still be released, and Red Dwarf fans can focus their grief on celebrating Grant’s legacy through it.
Our thoughts go out to all of Rob Grant’s friends and family.
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