An Irish codger, 110, wants a piece of the action for doing a British producer's TV show.

A police inspector (Donald Sinden) tracks down Russian anarchist Peter the Painter (Peter Wyngarde) and his gang in circa-1911 London.

Droste, a mild-mannered businessman, was an intelligence expert during World War II. When Droste runs into his old friend Baron Von Straub, the two rekindle a friendship that was interrupted by the war. However, when Von Straub asks Droste to deliver a small package to a friend in West Germany, the befuddled Droste is set up for a series of complicated spy games.