Truth certainly is stranger than fiction when it comes to the curious story of Von Ribbentrop’s Watch, which writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran bring to the Watford Palace Theatre stage this week.

The play is being staged by Watford Palace’s artistic director Brigid Larmour and concerns the dubious history of a watch that Laurence bought in Los Angeles. When the watch went in for repair, Laurence discovered it had once belonged to Hitler’s Foreign Minister, Joachim Von Ribbentrop and was worth between £40-50,000. The problem was, what should he do with it? So Maurice suggested they write a play.

The cast includes Jack Ellis (Bad Girls), Andrew Paul (The Bill, Where the Heart Is), Gwyneth Strong (Only Fools and Horses), and Barbara Young (Coronation Street).

Laurence and Maurice met at a Jewish boys’ club in Finsbury Park in the early 1960s. In their 20s they joined a drama group and started writing together. Laurence went on to write for the Tottenham Weekly Herald, while Maurice, whose relatives still live in the Mill Hill, became a civil servant. They then moved into TV, and together penned such gems as Birds of a Feather, Goodnight Sweetheart, The New Statesman, Love Hurts and Shine on Harvey Moon. In 1993 Laurence and Maurice were jointly awarded the BAFTA for writer of the year.

In their latest play, Gerald Roth, proprietor of Grapes of Roth, is struggling financially due to the recession. He finds a valuable piece of Nazi memorabilia that will solve his money worries but unwisely decides to broach the subject of how it came to be in the family’s possession during Passover dinner.

“We imagined what sort of person would most want to sell the watch if he discovered he owned it and who would risk the most if they sold the watch,” says Maurice.

Working collaboratively has certainly helped the duo as have a few lucky breaks, I ask Maurice if he feels it’s as easy for scriptwriters today?

“We have had some good fortune bumping into helpful people at helpful times,” agrees Maurice. “I think it’s very difficult, verging on impossible. One is in danger of seeming gloomy and ungracious but the cult of caution has made TV a very hard nut to crack. There are other ways writers can make some headway. There wasn’t really stand-up when we started. There was only Jimmy Tarbuck and Bob Hope, comedy nights in pubs didn’t exist. And there was nothing like the internet. You can now develop a career without going outside of your bedroom.”

The play is at Watford Palace Theatre from Tuesday 21 to Saturday 25 September at 7.45pm, matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm. Details: 01923 225671