In the 2000s Briers was the curmudgeonly and extravagant father Hector MacDonald in the BBC television programme Monarch of the Glen (2000-05), appearing in series 1,2,3 & 7. He appeared in other programmes, see Later Career.
Word Origin and History for malleable Expand. adj. late 14c., capable of being shaped by hammering, from Middle French malleable and directly from Medieval Latin malleabilis, from malleare to beat with a hammer, from Latin malleus hammer (see mallet). Figurative sense, of persons, capable of being adapted first recorded 1610s.
mallet. 1  a hammerlike tool with a head commonly of wood but occasionally of rawhide, plastic, etc., used for driving any tool with a wooden handle, as a chisel, or for striking a surface. 2  the wooden implement used to strike the balls in croquet. 3  Polo. the long-handled stick, or club, used to drive the ball.