Rob Grant
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Rob Grant is a British comedy writer and television producer, who was born in Salford and studied Psychology at Liverpool University for two years.
In the mid-1980s, Grant collaborated with co-writer Doug Naylor on radio programs such as Cliché and its sequel Son Of Cliché and television programs such as Spitting Image, The 10 Percenters, and various projects for Jasper Carrott.
The 'Grant Naylor' collaboration, as it had become known, was best known for the creation of 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 with Doug Naylor.[citation needed] His main reason however, he said, was that he 'wished to have more on his 'tombstone' than Red Dwarf on its own'. In 1995, the Daily Mirror newspaper claimed that the reason Grant quit his role as co-writer was that he'd had a fight with Naylor while developing series VII,[citation needed] although Grant later denied this.[citation needed]
Since Red Dwarf, Grant has written two television series, The Strangerers and Dark Ages, and four solo novels, his most recent being Fat, a satirical look at how obesity is looked upon by society and the media. He is currently rumoured to be involved in an upcoming animated television series entitled Cruel Aliens.
[edit] Selected works by Rob Grant
- Red Dwarf (1989), with Doug Naylor (published under the joint pseudonym Grant Naylor); sometimes credited as Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers.
- Better Than Life (1990), with Doug Naylor (published under the joint pseudonym Grant Naylor).
- Son Of Soup (1996) (with Doug Naylor).
- Scenes From The Dwarf (1996) (with Doug Naylor).
- Backwards (1996), a sequel to Better Than Life.
- Colony (2000), a sci-fi story about a colony that has long since lost its way.
- Incompetence (2003), a wry detective story set in the near future where incompetence is law.
- Fat (2006), a darkly comic novel about how the media portrays obesity.