Fred Dagg

Fred Dagg is a fictional character from New Zealand created and acted on stage, film and television by satirist John Clarke. Clarke graced New Zealand TV screens as Dagg during the mid to late 1970s, "" out of the post-pioneering Kiwi bloke and "blokesses". The Fred Dagg character is a stereotypical farmer and New Zealand bloke: clad in a black singlet and gumboots, hailing from the isolated rural town of Taihape, and attended by numerous associates (or sons) all named "Trev". One memorable expression was uttered whenever there was a knock at the door: "That'll be the door."

When Clarke first unveiled the character of Fred Dagg in recordings and on New Zealand TV in 1975, he became a national star. Clarke also recorded a series of records and cassettes as Dagg, as well as publishing several books.

In 1979, Clarke moved from New Zealand to Australia, where he went on to establish himself as a top script writer and personality. He appeared regularly on Australian television delivering political satire sketches with actor comedian Bryan Dawe until his death in April 2017.

Clarke has stated that the inspiration for Fred Dagg came primarily from his uncles who would talk in such a way, using intonation and speech rhythm, to cause laughter without the standard telling of jokes.

Much of the comedy coming into New Zealand at the time was British radio and this was an inspiration to him.

Fred Dagg first came to public attention as a closing satire item on the NZBC farming show, Country Calendar. He went on to become a household name in New Zealand in 1975, with the release by Clarke (as Dagg) of two singles with EMI, "Traditional Air"/"Unlabelled", and "We Don't Know How Lucky We Are"/"Larry Loves Barry", with the latter making it to number 17 on the national music single charts.

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