Peter Guillam, zastavenie kolegu a disciplíny George Smiley z Britskej tajnej služby, otherwise known ako cirkus, má byť retire do svojej rodiny farmstead na južnom pobreží Brittany, keď dopis z jeho starých služieb summons him do Londýna. The reason? His Cold War pasca má back to claim him. Intelligence operations that were once the toast of secret london are to be scrutinised by generation with no memory of the Cold War. Somebody musia byť vyrobené na ťarchu pre innocent blood once spilt v name of the greater good.