Dennis Alaba Peters


Dennis Alaba Peters was a Gambian actor who worked in the United Kingdom. He is known for his portrayal of Sir Curtis Seretse in the TV series Department S.

Early life

Dennis Alaba Peters was born in The Gambia. Peters was son of successful newspaper publisher Ingram Peters, and Rosemary Kezia, both from Sierra Leone. He was the youngest of five children; his sister Dr. Florence Mahoney, born in Banjul, The Gambia; Bijou Peters, a nurse and journalist; Ruby Peters, a retired UN administrator who died in 2008; and brother Dr Lenrie Peters, a surgeon, celebrated poet and novelist.
He studied Economics at The University of Cambridge. Before finishing his studies, Peters left Cambridge to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to study voice instead. His switch to Guildhall was against his father's wishes, and his family stopped supporting him. In need of employment, Peters became a BBC reporter. Upon graduation from Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he appeared in operas. He eventually concentrated entirely on acting. He was active during the 1960s and early 1970s.

Sir Curtis Seretse

Little background information describes the character of Sir Curtis Seretse. The character heads Department S of Interpol and team leader Stewart Sullivan reports directly to him. The show left his role in Interpol undefined – but his contacts include senior members of NATO and the United Nations. Sir Curtis has access to information that the Department S team does not. He has a mostly hands-off approach to managing, but can become personally involved. He may exercise authority, standing Sullivan down for becoming too emotionally involved.
Casting Peters, a black African, as a sophisticated and urbane senior diplomat, was extremely uncommon in 1960's television. The significance of Lieutenant Uhura, a character with a leading and central role in the original Star Trek series being portrayed by an African American actress drew much commentary, this was not the case with Sir Curtis. In a 2008 Documentary about the series, Kate O'Mara stated that she believed casting Peters in an authority role "did a lot for the black community in the acting world".

Filmography

He died in the US in 1996.