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。

该剧改编自18世纪同名经典小说，剧本由Harriet Warner负责。故事讲述自恋的梅特伊侯爵夫人及瓦尔蒙子爵是前恋人亦是对手，他们皆擅长用诱惑来控制及利用别人。剧集会讲述这两个角色的早年起源故事。

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.