冷戰時，全球兩大特工組織——俄羅斯“中心”與英國“圓場”明爭暗斗。特工遇害，高層震怒，責成“圓場”挖出“地鼠”。懷疑對象共有5人，即圓場上任“老總”命名的鍋匠，裁縫，士兵，窮人，乞丐。其中，金盆洗手的“乞丐”喬治·史邁利(加里·奧德曼 Gary Oldman 飾)本來有重大嫌疑。某日，行動組-剝頭皮組頭目的彼得·吉勒姆(本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇 Benedict Cumberbatch 飾)與英國內閣辦公室諜報總監拉康排除了史邁利的嫌疑，令其重新出山，負責挖出“地鼠”。于是，史邁利開始分別走訪故人，調查“圓場”老大阿勒萊恩，裁縫-比爾·海頓(科林·費斯 Colin Firth 飾)，士兵-掌管東歐事務的資深間諜羅?！げ继m德，窮人-后勤部門點路燈組組長托比·伊斯特哈斯。一時間，圓場疑云密布，人人自危，究竟誰才是“地鼠”……　　本片本片根據約翰·勒卡雷的同名小說改編。片名來自英國民間的“鵝媽媽童謠集”。

 這次特別篇的舞臺，是吉宗治世20多年后的江戶城。原創系列中年輕的將軍吉宗也面臨著六十大壽的繼承問題。劇中保留了系列的世界觀和魅力，在繼承問題上搖擺不定的吉宗和江戶城內的人們的模樣，以及在城下町發生的陰謀漩渦的疑難事件，將被加入新的角色和時代性來描繪。

　　Sheila Hood is an ex-cop whose marriage is on the rocks. Rather than confronting her husband about an affair, she hides surveillance cameras in her home and watches his transgressions, becoming a voyeur of her own life. Her husband, Tom Kale, is an ornithologist who begins an affair with an ex-girlfriend, Merle James, whose beauty and fragility echoes that of the birds he studies. Ray Starling, the charismatic owner of a boutique hotel, is Merle’s lover, and has dealings with her father, Mr James, a powerful oil baron who operates in the shadows but whose influence touches the whole city. Merle’s younger sister, Hazel, is also drawn to Tom, but trapped in Starling’s web of power. Calvin is an cop whose loyalty to his ex partner, Hood, is tested when mounting evidence from her own surveillance tapes connects her and Tom to Starling’s murder, and perhaps even Merle’s mysterious death.

　　這部犯罪喜劇片講述剛出獄的劫匪安可，聯手因童年創傷分裂出失憶人格的弟弟曼弗雷德，共赴童年老宅掘地三尺——既要挖出當年埋藏的贓款，更欲掘開塵封記憶的潘多拉魔盒。