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.
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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.
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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.
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Daniel is a TV history pundit with a spurious academic background who has indeed re-invented his academic past with a double first.
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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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