Charlie Muffin is a 1979 made-for-TV film based on the novel Charlie M by Brian Freemantle. In the U.S., the picture was later re-released under the title A Deadly Game.
A Euston Films production, the movie features David Hemmings, Sir Ralph Richardson, Sam Wanamaker, Pinkas Braun, Ian Richardson, Shane Rimmer and Jennie Linden and was directed by Jack Gold.
The Cold War espionage thriller follows the moves of British anti-hero spy Charlie Muffin (Hemmings) who has fallen on hard times since the forced retirement of Sir Archibald Willoughby, his previous boss at the U.K. secret service (played by Sir Ralph Richardson). His new boss, Sir Henry Cuthbertson (Ian Richardson), who epitomizes the haughty upper class British imperialist, hardly attempts to conceal his disdain for the under-educated agent who quite obviously doesn't stem from the "right class". Right at the start of the film, we witness how Charlie has evidently been deemed expendable and accordingly gets set up to be caught or killed during a joint mission in East Germany — this despite Muffin essentially having been responsible for the mission's success. Cuthbertson's lap-dog agents Snare and Harrison — who are both totally lacking in experience and as arrogant as their boss — are shocked and embarrassed to see Muffin returning alive and well.