Grant, Rob
Entry updated 30 March 2026. Tagged: Author.
(1955-2026) UK author and scriptwriter who with Doug Naylor who worked for three years as head writers for Spitting Image (1984-1996), a satirical Television series using a combination of puppets and live action, and who together wrote the Red Dwarf (1988-current) [which see for discussion] television series, which weds black Humour and Space Opera. The two were initially best known under the collaborative pseudonym Grant Naylor for Red Dwarf Ties, beginning with the with the two novels Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers (1989), and Better than Life (1990), both written with Doug Naylor under the joint pseudonym Grant Naylor and both assembled with additional material as Red Dwarf Omnibus (omni 1992); the second is an early example (see Clichés) of the trapped-in-a-Videogame trope (see Computer Role Playing Game; Virtual Reality). Only one related novel, Grant's solo Backwards (1996), has not been published under this joint pseudonym; as the title suggests, the central sf theme in Grant's Backwards is that of Time in Reverse. A first collection of Red Dwarf scripts was Primordial Soup: Red Dwarf Scripts (coll 1993), again jointly as by Grant Naylor. The further series ties Scenes from the Dwarf (coll 1996 chap) and Son of Soup: A Second Serving of the Least Worst Scripts (coll 1996) appeared as by Grant and Doug Naylor.
As Grant, his sf includes Colony (2000), a comic novel set aboard a Generation Starship whose occupants rather resemble the cast of the television series; Incompetence (2003), a Satire, which could be considered Euro-sceptic if it were focused on genuine issues, in which a Near Future private eye encounters bureaucratic delays in his attempts to track down a competent serial killer; and Fat (2006), an assault on media treatment of obesity which is also humorous. The Quanderhorn Xperimentations (2018) with Andrew Marshall (1954- ) – written in conjunction with a six-episode Radio version, The Quanderhorn Xperimentations (25 June-30 July 2018 BBC) – is a Parody-with-love of Nigel Kneale's Quatermass scripts and novelizations (see various entries under Quatermass); the tale is set in a 1952 Time Loop, now in its sixty-fifth repetition. [JC/DRL]
see also: Advertising.
Robert Grant
born Salford, Lancashire: September 1955
died 25 February 2026
works
series
Red Dwarf
- Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers (London: Penguin Books, 1989) with Doug Naylor, writing together as Grant Naylor [tie to Red Dwarf: Red Dwarf: pb/]
- Better than Life (London: Viking, 1990) with Doug Naylor, writing together as Grant Naylor [tie to Red Dwarf: Red Dwarf: hb/Paul Grant]
- Red Dwarf Omnibus (London: Penguin Books, 1992) with Doug Naylor, writing together as Grant Naylor [omni of the above two: tie to Red Dwarf: Red Dwarf: pb/]
- Primordial Soup: Red Dwarf Scripts (London: Penguin Books, 1993) with Doug Naylor, writing together as Grant Naylor [scripts: coll: tie to Red Dwarf: Red Dwarf: pb/photographic]
- Backwards (London: Viking, 1996) [tie to Red Dwarf: Red Dwarf: hb/Bill Gregory]
- Scenes from the Dwarf (London: Penguin 60s, 1996) with Doug Naylor [script extracts: coll: chap: tie to Red Dwarf: Red Dwarf: pb/]
- Son of Soup: A Second Serving of the Least Worst Scripts (London: Penguin Books, 1996) with Doug Naylor [scripts: coll: tie to Red Dwarf: Red Dwarf: pb/photographic]
- Red Dwarf VIII (London: Virgin, 1999) with Doug Naylor, writing together as Grant Naylor [scripts: coll: tie to Red Dwarf: Red Dwarf: hb/photocollage]
individual titles
- Colony (London: Viking, 2000) [hb/Chris Moore]
- Incompetence (London: Gollancz, 2003) [hb/]
- Fat (London: Gollancz, 2006) [hb/]
- The Quanderhorn Xperimentations (London: Gollancz, 2018) with Andrew Marshall [hb/Rob Grant]
links
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