Robert Grant is an English comedy writer,
television producer
A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon ...
and co-creator of ''
Red Dwarf
''Red Dwarf'' is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following. ...
''. Since ''Red Dwarf'', Grant has written two television series, ''
The Strangerers
''The Strangerers'' is a British television comedy-drama science fiction series written by Rob Grant (best known as co-creator of '' Red Dwarf'') and was broadcast on Sky One between 15 February and 11 April 2000.
A single series was made wit ...
'' and ''
Dark Ages'', and four solo novels, his most recent being ''
Fat''. During his career Grant has been involved in two distinct writing partnerships: the first with
Doug Naylor, and the second and most recent with
Andrew Marshall.
Early life
Grant was born in
Salford
Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...
and studied
Psychology
Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...
at
Liverpool University
, mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning
, established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
for two years.
Career
In the mid-1980s, Grant collaborated with co-writer
Doug Naylor on radio programmes such as ''
Son Of Cliché
A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative.
Social issues
In pre-industrial societies and some current co ...
'', ''Wrinkles'' for Radio 4 and
television programmes
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...
such as ''
Spitting Image
''Spitting Image'' is a television in the United Kingdom, British satire, satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productio ...
'', ''
The 10 Percenters
''The 10%ers'' is a British television comedy series, broadcast on ITV.
Set in the office of a theatrical agent, it began as a pilot in 1993 shown as part of ITV's short-lived Comedy Playhouse (not to be confused with the BBC's long-running C ...
'', and various projects for
Jasper Carrott
Robert Norman Davis (born 14 March 1945), best known by his stage name, Jasper Carrott, is an English comedian, actor and television presenter.
Early life
Born in Shaftmoor Lane, Acocks Green, in Birmingham, Carrott was educated at Acocks Gr ...
.
The '
Grant Naylor' collaboration, as it had become known, created the cult science-fiction comedy series, ''Red Dwarf'', which evolved from ''
Dave Hollins: Space Cadet'', a recurring sketch within ''Son Of Cliché''. Grant was briefly seen (uncredited) in an episode of ''Red Dwarf'' entitled "
Backwards" (1989), as a man who 'un-smoked' a cigarette. In the mid-1990s, the '
Grant Naylor' collaboration was ended when Grant left ''Red Dwarf'' after the sixth series, citing creative differences ("... it was basically 'musical differences' ...") with
Doug Naylor.
His main reason however, he said, was that he 'wished to have more on his 'tombstone' than ''Red Dwarf'' on its own'.
In 2018, Grant collaborated with
Andrew Marshall to produce, direct and write the BBC Radio 4 Series, "
The Quanderhorn Xperimentations" - and also the novel version published by
Gollancz Publishers.
In 2021, it was announced that Grant had written a short Red Dwarf script, ''Into the Gloop'', which was performed live via Zoom on the 7th February 2021 as part of the Official Red Dwarf Fan Club's Holly Hop convention.
Writing credits
Bibliography
* ''
Red Dwarf
''Red Dwarf'' is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following. ...
'' (1989), co-written with Doug Naylor (published under the joint pseudonym
Grant Naylor); sometimes referred to as ''Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers''.
* ''
Better Than Life
''Better Than Life'' is a science fiction comedy novel by Grant Naylor, the collective name for Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, co-creators and writers of the '' Red Dwarf'' television series, on which the novel is based. The main plotline was deve ...
'' (1990), co-written with Doug Naylor (published under the joint pseudonym
Grant Naylor).
* ''Primordial Soup'' (1993), co-written with Doug Naylor (collection of scripts from the TV show Red Dwarf)
* ''Son Of Soup'' (1996), co-written with Doug Naylor (second volume of Red Dwarf scripts)
* ''Scenes From The Dwarf'' (1996), co-written with Doug Naylor (Making of Red Dwarf)
* ''
Backwards'' (1996), a sequel to ''
Better Than Life
''Better Than Life'' is a science fiction comedy novel by Grant Naylor, the collective name for Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, co-creators and writers of the '' Red Dwarf'' television series, on which the novel is based. The main plotline was deve ...
''.
* ''
Colony
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...
'' (2000), a science fiction story about a colony that has long since lost its way.
* ''
Incompetence
Incompetence is the inability to perform; lack of Competence (human resources), competence; ineptitude.
Aspects of incompetence include:
*Administrative incompetence, dysfunctional administrative behaviors that hinder attainment of organization g ...
'' (2003), a wry detective story set in the near future where it is illegal to discriminate for any reason, even incompetence.
* ''
Fat'' (2006), a darkly comic novel about how the media portrays
obesity
Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's ...
and its effects on today's society.
* ''
The Quanderhorn Xperimentations'' (2018), with
Andrew Marshall, a science fiction story set in 1952 with echoes of
Quatermass
Professor Bernard Quatermass is a fictional scientist, originally created by the writer Nigel Kneale for BBC Television. An intelligent and highly moral British scientist, Quatermass is a pioneer of the British space programme, heading the Brit ...
.
* ''The Nether Regions'' (2019), with Andrew Marshall (
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...
)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Rob
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
English comedy writers
English science fiction writers
People from Salford
English television writers
Writers from Manchester
Alumni of the University of Liverpool