February 27, 2026
Smoke us a kipper; the net’s in mourning
Red Dwarf creator Rob Grant has died
Fans crash sites, sing ‘sun sun sun,’ and toast vindaloo as tributes pour in
TLDR: Rob Grant, Red Dwarf’s co-creator, has died at 70; no cause announced. Fans swarmed tributes—crashing a fan site, singing “sun sun sun,” and toasting curry and lager—while cast and the official page mourned, blending gallows humor with gratitude for a comedy legacy that shaped British sci‑fi.
The Red Dwarf universe is in collective shock after co-creator Rob Grant’s death at 70, and the fandom did what it does best: mourn with heart and mischief. The news first surfaced on fan hub Ganymede & Titan—which promptly buckled under traffic—while cast tributes rolled in. Star Craig Charles called Grant “a visionary,” and the official page posted a heartfelt farewell, as fans piled into threads to grieve, reminisce, and yes, cue the catchphrases.
Top comment vibes? A full-on chorus of the theme song—“fun fun fun in the sun sun sun”—countered by blunt, stunned posts like “Smeg,” and affectionate toasts of curry and lager in his honor. One fan joked they’ll be “smoking some kippers,” a nod to the show’s most swaggering send-off. A mini-drama erupted when someone asked for a black mourning bar on the site—only to quip it would mean changing the CSS—perfectly on-brand gallows humor for a community raised on silly stoicism. Another commenter darkly noted “two in one day” with another creator, capturing the day’s gut-punch mood.
Amid memories of Spitting Image, The Chicken Song, and the BBC launch that made cult icons out of Lister and Rimmer, fans are bracing for a bittersweet July: Grant’s newly announced novel Titan now reads like a final gift. Cause of death hasn’t been shared, but the message is loud—his comedy changed their cosmos.
Key Points
- •Rob Grant, co-creator of Red Dwarf and writer on Spitting Image, has died at age 70.
- •The news was first reported by Red Dwarf fan site Ganymede and Titan; the site briefly went down due to traffic.
- •Tributes were posted by Craig Charles and the Official Red Dwarf Facebook page; actor Cameron Yarde also noted Grant’s TV writing legacy.
- •Red Dwarf began from a radio sketch, launched on the BBC in 1988, and was later revived on Dave, boosting several actors’ careers.
- •Grant’s new Red Dwarf novel, Titan, co-credited to Andrew Marshall, was recently announced and is due for publication in July.