Stanley Unwin is an agent of B.I.S.H.O.P.
That organization's acronym stands for British Intelligence Service Headquarters - Operation Priest.
This middle-aged man with graying, and partially balding, hair, black-rimmed glasses, and a friendly, soothing voice, also enjoys another career which he seems to enjoy and is good at it - he is a country vicar. In fact, he was a vicar for quite a few years before he was recruited by British Intelligence to become part of its specialized group.
Unwin has a powerful tool that he uses in the course of his espionage work. It is called the Minimizer, a nifty instrument invented by his late friend, Professor Humbert, and left to Unwin. It is not known whether Humbert gave Unwin this amazing mechanism before he became an operative with B.I.S.H.O.P. or Unwin received it while already an agent. Also curious is the fact that such a fantastic power would not be sought by other members of the government, leading to the assumption that they did not want it because they did not know it existed.
He has as an assistant a somewhat younger man named Matthew Harding, an undercover intelligence operative. Harding's cover job is that of the vicarage gardener. Harding is there to accompany the vicar on his BISHOP missions but to keep the deception of a lowly and harmless minister, Harding travels incognito in a most unusual way - he is shrunk by the Minimizer to just one-third his normal size which allows him to fit inside Unwin's "gadget-laden" suitcase".
Another interesting person in Unwin's inner circle is his much put-upon housekeeper, Mrs. Appleby. This poor lady is in constant contact with both Unwin and his assistant when they are at home but has no idea of their extra-vicarage work so is invariably perplexed with the fact that they are frequently off and running for no apparent reason.
When Unwin needs to do this running, he does so in his favorite mode of transport, a 1917 Ford Model T that he has named Gabriel. While this apparently souped-up antique vehicle looks incongruous considering the espionage occupation of Unwin in a modern world, it does in fact suit his personality, well, to a 'T'.
One last aspect of Unwin is his ability to lapse into a strange language called 'Unwinese' which he speaks rapidly and without hesitation. It sounds almost like it should made sense but just does not quite register. This gibberish, coupled with his advanced age and clerical garb, has gotten him out of more than one sticky situation. Whether this nonsense talking is intended by Unwin or a product of nerves is not certain.