Rob Grant, creator of Red Dwarf, has died

[ColinEberhardt]

My random claim to fame; I was the support act (juggler) for Norman Lovett (the red dwarf ships computer), for one night only in the Welsh town of Bangor.

What a life I’ve lived.

[nephihaha]

Yes, I remember him. He briefly had his own show called "I Lovett" or something like that. Also spent time in Bangor back in the mid nineties.

[ddellacosta]

As an American, Red Dwarf along with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy created a deep appreciation both for British humor and funny sci-fi in my adolescent self. I now own the box set on DVD and even have a random Red Dwarf novel I got at a yard sale (I forget which one of them wrote it though).

RIP Rob! Will be having a vindaloo, lager, and maybe some fish (Fish! Fish! Fish!) later in your honor

(EDIT: 100% talking about the UK version here, had no idea or forgot there _was_ an American version)

[afandian]

Maybe it was written by:

> Grant Naylor is a gestalt entity occupying two bodies, one of which lives in north London, the other in south London. The product of a horribly botched genetic-engineering experiment, which took place in Manchester in the late fifties, they try to eke out two existences with only one mind. They attended the same school and the same university, but, for tax reasons, have completely different wives.

> The first body is called Rob Grant, the second Doug Naylor. Among other things, they spent three years in the mid-eighties as head writers of Spitting Image; wrote Radio Four's award-winning series Son of Cliche; penned the lyrics to a number one single; and created and wrote Red Dwarf for BBC television.

> They have made a living variously by being ice-cream salesmen, shoe-shop assistants and by attempting to sell dodgy life-assurance policies to close friends. They also spent almost two years on the night shift loading paper into computer printers at a mail-order factory in Ardwick. They can still taste the cheese 'n' onion toasties.

> Their favourite colour is orange.

[beloch]

Red Dwarf is an absolute classic, but I think people of all nations can agree that the American version was better off cancelled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mlnntKi2no

Even the second attempt at it, with Star Trek DS9's Terry Farrell (as Cat), was a bad idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfJsViD9SjM

The original was lightning in a bottle.

[nullhole]

RIP, thanks for the memories.

No sci fi effect has ever given me the same sense of wonder that I got from the shot of the camera slowly travelling over the gigantic ship in the Season 1/2 intro.

Btw: @dang : Grant was the co-creator, alongside Doug Naylor, who is still kicking

[nephihaha]

The intro was actually strangely eerie/bleak. I felt sorry for Lister (I think it is) out there painting the ship. There was kind of a sadness because he had lost pretty much all his friends and you could feel the vastness of space.

[teamonkey]

The practical effects in the early seasons were truly fantastic. It was never quite the same after they switched to cgi.

[mrwh]

It's cold outside

There's no kind of atmosphere

I'm all alone

More or less

Let me fly Far away from here

Fun fun fun

In the sun sun sun

I want to lie

Shipwrecked and comatose

Drinking fresh

Mango juice

Goldfish shoals

Nibbling at my toes

Fun fun fun

In the sun sun sun

Fun fun fun In the sun sun sun

[danielodievich]

As fresh immigrant to USA, watching it on local PBS on the gigantic back projection jumbotron TV someone offloaded on us back in mid-90es, it made a huge impact with its absurdity and silliness. I sing "Drinking Fresh Mango Juice" every time I get it out of the fridge, and when my wife and I visited Egypt and got room service with fresh mango juices, it was in heavy rotation. And every time I leave and it's cold outside, I tend to sing "It's cold outside!". RIP

[agumonkey]

I loved the piano chord progression..

and then there's tongue tied https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3t3IKlXqFU (great bassline too)

[nephihaha]

For a brief period there it was fashionable to have fish nibbling at your feet (in the 2010s?). Not goldfish shoals although that is probably what Lister wanted to farm in Fiji.

[zabzonk]

One of my favourite happy happy songs.

> Shipwrecked and comatose

is how I have often felt.

[JojoFatsani]

There was nothing like Red Dwarf on TF (British or American) back then - a laugh-tracked show that could be simultaneously the most hilarious dry wit, not-so-dry bawdy humor, and a compelling and thought-provoking sci-fi action-adventure all at the same time.

I fell off it after they had that comeback season roughly in 2000 where the whole ship got revived. Then I saw a few clips from a later season where everyone was pretty schlubby. I'll need to track down some way to re-watch the whole thing.

[afavour]

Very on topic: Rob Grant left the show after the sixth series. I think the lack of his influence was immediately apparent, a lot of the depth was lost. Like how the transition from series 2 to series 3 got a lot more action-y, 6 to 7 started to lean more on established tropes etc (IMO).

Also of note: Grant and Naylor wrote a series of Red Dwarf novels that were surprisingly good. They really fleshed out a lot of the character behind Lister and Rimmer. One novel goes deep on the concept of Better than Life, a one episode throwaway in the show but expanded to true horror in the novel.

They split (same time as they split on the show) and wrote separate novels in different continuity in the end. IMO Grant’s was notably better.

[nephihaha]

I watched the whole lot thanks to lockdown. I used to like up until series six or so, but had a look at the later ones. Yes, the actors certainly all look more "lived in" nowadays.

The later series/seasons are very uneven, which surprised me. I stopped watching originally around when Chloe Annette's Kochanski was introduced but I was surprised that instead of a steady decline that the quality was very up and down.

[hansjorg]

He's dead Dave. At least he went peacefully in his Jeep.

[sbarre]

Anyone else read Rob Grant's book Colony[0]?

It's a pretty funny sci-fi book, similar dry wit.. I picked it up at a yard sale only because it said "from the creator of Red Dwarf" even though I mostly only knew of the show through others..

0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_(Grant_novel)

[moffers]

They’re all dead, Dave! What a great franchise.

[hinkley]

Peterson isn't, is he?

[bravoetch]

I used to stay up late to watch Red Dwarf. [dark reference to the show incoming] Maybe he's moved on to somewhere Better Than Life.

[owenthejumper]

My wife and I look at each other and laugh really hard every time we order Gazpacho. If you know, you know...

[mrlonglong]

Mr Flibble sends his regrets.

[itsoggy]

Stoke me a Clipper... I'll be back for Christmas!

[lproven]

Er. I may be missing something here, but isn't it smoke me a kipper?

[codeulike]

Loved the show back in its heyday. From what I remember, the novels are pretty good too

[raffraffraff]

> Working together under the name "Grant Naylor", the creators of the series collaboratively wrote two novels. The first, Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers, was published in November 1989, and it incorporates plot lines from several episodes of the show's first two series. The second novel, Better Than Life, followed in October 1990, and it is largely based on the second-series episode of the same name. Together, the two novels provide expanded backstory and development of the series' principal characters and themes.

If you haven't read the books, please do yourself a favour. They are far far better than the series, have much more depth and have not dated as badly. I loved Red Dwarf when it was on TV (jesus, I was 12 years old..) but I find it a little hard to watch now. Some parts are still great though.

[alephnerd]

I'll pour out a lager and grab some chicken vindaloo in his memory.

[cryptonector]

Of course! Lager, the only thing that can kill a vindaloo.

[hermitcrab]

Kryton is one of the greatest characters to ever grace a tv screen.

[LeoPanthera]

Robert Llewellyn is just a lovely person in general. He now produces a YouTube/TV show about electric cars, but his outtakes from Red Dwarf are delightful. He stays mostly in character during the outtakes (perhaps that's easy in the suit) and he's very funny.

Some random Red Dwarf outtakes: https://youtu.be/l6VTzq5N0Mo

[nephihaha]

It terrifies me sometimes that I can see aspects of both Lister and Rimmer in myself despite them being polar opposites.

I don't relate to Cat as much, although his character is great too.

[Lio]

“It’s a banana. It always has been a banana and always will be a banana. It’s a yellow fruit you unzip and eat the white bits. It’s a banana!“

[thx4allthefish]

Smeeeeeeeeg head

[solomonb]

Wow 2 in one day with Dan Simmons :(

Rest in peace.

[busterarm]

Smeg

[petermcneeley]

RIP with the calculators.

[stevekemp]

Silicon heaven .. hopefully free of talking-toasters.

[dwb]

Fab show, great memories! Thanks for the laughs Rob, RIP.

[card_zero]

Oh, piss.

[gorgoiler]

An excellent plan sir, with just two minor drawbacks…

one: what you created was amazing and we will miss you; and

two: you are dead.

— after RG/DN

[jl6]

Damn. Guess I’ll be smoking some kippers in his memory.

Can we get a black bar?

On second thoughts, that would mean changing the CSS.

[tarkin2]

Ah, there are so many jokes like that which still make me smile. I'm grateful Red Dwarf and his books were part of my childhood.

[melody_calling]

> On second thoughts, that would mean changing the CSS.

Bravo.