本剧改编自Len Deighton的同名间谍小说。Joe Cole饰演男主Harry Palmer，背景在60年代冷战时期，主角原本因故可能要入狱，但因为他当间谍的潜力被发挖出来，以及在柏林拥有人脉，故此他被迫进行危险的任务。

故事根据60岁的出租车司机Kempton Bunton在1961年从伦敦国家美术馆偷走了一幅戈雅的画的真实故事改编。Bunton发了一封勒索信说，只有在英国政府同意为老年人提供免费电视的条件下，他才会退还画作。 然而，事实证明他正在撒谎，在接下来的50年里，他都没有出现。该事件也是国家美术馆历史上首次也是唯一一次盗窃事件。

Based on the internationally acclaimed Tudor murder mystery novels by C.J. Sansom, the four-part drama is set in 16th century England during the dissolution of the monasteries. 　　The series will follow the story of Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer with an acute sense of justice and one of the few honest men in a world beset with scheming and plots. Shardlake works for Thomas Cromwell, the dangerous and all-powerful right-hand man to Henry VIII. 　　Despite Shardlake’s unwavering loyalty to Cromwell and the Crown, his position in society is unfavored due to his appearance, as a person living with scoliosis during the Tudor period, suffering the indignity of being abused as a “crookback” wherever he turns. As he investigates the murder of one of Cromwell’s commissioners at a monastery in the remote town of Scarnsea, he is accompanied by Jack Barak, a cocky and good-looking character who may be Cromwell’s spy.