Star Trek Magazine – July 2019

01 Derek

Partridge,

pictured

recently.

02 Partridge

as Dionyd

with Ted Scott

as Eraclitus,

in“Plato’s

Stepchildren.”

Mr. Spock, and the sensitive dwarf

Alexander (Michael Dunn).

“I can’t say I was excited over getting

the role, especially with that silly-looking

wig on my head and the costume I had

to wear,” says Partridge, who now lives

in Utah. “It was not a large part, and

the character was not remarkable. As a

freelance actor, I was just happy to be

working, even if only for a couple of

days!” Partridge says his wife summed it

up best upon seeing him in the episode.

“She said, ‘Oh, typecasting!’ meaning

I was playing a ‘gay Greek’ and British

actors at that time were always being cast

as either gay or as drunks.”

Carping from the Sidelines

In addition to the typecasting,

another drawback of the role was that

Partridge and fellow Greek Eraclitus

(Ted Scott) were limited to sitting in

D

erekPartridgeis fortunateto

bearoundtotalkabouthisrole

as Dionyd,oneofthearrogant

Platoniansintheoriginalseriesthird

seasonepisode“Plato’sStepchildren.”

In1943,as a seven-year-oldboy,

Partridgewassettoboardwhatwas,

it wouldtranspire,a doomedplane–

untilhewasbumpedfromhisseatby

a moviestarat thelastminute.Asa

result,thefamousactorperished,and

youngDerekPartridgewasgranted

a secondchanceat life,goingonto

a variedandversatilecareerthathas

includedbeinganauthor,a news

anchor,a TVpresenter,a voice-over

artist,and,ofcourse,anactor.More

onthatstrangeturnofeventslater...

Today,Partridgeis stillgettingmail

fromStarTrekfansof allages,fromall

overtheworld, 50 yearsafterappearing

intheseries.The London-bornactor

recallsthatit washisagentwho

submittedhimfortheroleof Dioynd,

oneof thePlatonianswhoenjoys

watchingtheirleaderParmen(Liam

Sullivan)usepsychokineticpowersto

inflictcruelactsuponCaptainKirk,

DEREKPARTRIDGE,

“PLATO’SSTEPCHILDREN”

AppearinginStarTrek

wouldbeanextraordinary

eventformostpeople,but

foractorDerekPartridge,

playingDionydin “Plato’s

Stepchildren”wassomething

thatwouldn’thavecometo

passwithoutanevenmore

extraordinaryeventearlier

in hislife.

Words:MarkPhillips

01

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