Michael Maloney plays Professor Daniel Mastiff
Publicity-seeking, ambitious and utterly self-obsessed, Daniel Mastiff has slithered his way into the cushy post of Head of Archaeology – which technically makes him the team's boss.
However, secretly everyone knows the real boss is Gillian. Daniel will often attempt to steal Gillian's thunder or throw spanners in the works but he's cleverer than one might initially think.
The manner in which he inscrutably promotes his latest book, Sex Rites Of The Ancients, is indeed layered with egotistical self-interest but he often has another agenda – money and self-preservation for the department.
Daniel is a TV history pundit with a spurious academic background who has indeed re-invented his academic past with a double first.
However, deep down he has a good heart and generally the team find a way to avoid his oddities and continue their work without too much interference. What the team do not fully realise is quite how proud of them he actually is.
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