Desc: Shuttlecock: Directed by Andrew Piddington. With Alan Bates, Lambert Wilson, Kenneth Haigh, Jill Meager. Major James Prentis VC (Sir Alan Bates) is a British spy of World War II and war hero who goes under the code name of "Shuttlecock." Alienated from his family and children, he ends up in a mental institution in Lisbon, Portugal.