The time Orson Welles failed to direct an episode of Terry and June

“Cut!” bellowed legendary American film-maker Orson Welles.

“What was wrong with that? I did everything you asked. Everything,” insisted Terry Scott, the popular British comic actor.

Orson Welles, famed director of Citizen Kane was directing an episode of popular British sitcom Terry and June.

It wasn’t going well.

“Mr Scott, you are supposed to trip over the garden hose and spill your lemon barley water in a gently amusing fashion,” explained a furious Welles.

“That was not gently amusing. Not even a little bit.”

“Are you- THAT was gently amusing, it was the very definition of gently amusing. June, tell Mr Welles that was clearly a gently amusing trip over a garden hose,” Scott turned to his co-star for support.

“Oh no, you two boys leave me out of this. I’m going for a nice cup of tea.”

June Whitfield recalled working with Orson Welles in a 1998 Wogan interview.

“They just didn’t get on,” laughed the comedy legend.

“I think the problem is that when you get two giants of the screen like Orson Welles and Terry Scott together then they’re always going to butt heads a little and those two really did.”

After the scene with the garden hose, the relationship between Scott and Welles deteriorated even further with filming halted early after a furious row ensued over a scene in which Scott’s trousers hilariously accidentally fall down in front of the vicar.

“Oh lord, well, that was that,” laughed Mrs Whitfield.

“I mean, Terry was the loveliest man, but you don’t tell him that his trousers don’t accidentally fall down hilariously enough, I mean, you just don’t.

“It doesn’t matter if you’ve directed what many consider to be the finest film ever.

“Terry took his trousers hilariously falling down very seriously indeed.”

Sadly, it became clear that Orson Welles was not going to be able to successfully complete his direction of the episode.

“We didn’t see him again. It was probably for the best.”

Instead, the episode was completed by the great Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, who was visiting friends in London at the time and was a huge fan of Terry and June.

“Lovely man, and wonderful director,” recalled Mrs Whitfield, happily.

“Most importantly of all, he was very respectful of Terry’s trousers hilariously falling down.”