He was educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Darlington followed by St Catherine's College, Oxford, where he read English.
[2] He studied from 1954 to 1955 at the University of Tübingen, receiving a postgraduate degree.
In 1979, Daniell accompanied the Royal Shakespeare Company on a six-week tour of European cities.
[5] 1998 he published the Arden Third Series edition of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
Daniell spent twelve years as a Sixth Form Master at Apsley Grammar School[6] before moving to University College London where he was appointed a professor of English.