Its preoccupation with death hardly makes Maurice’s Jubilee comfortable viewing at times, especially for some of us Oxford Playhouse oldies who might prefer cheerier topics than a soon-to-be nonogenarian’s imminent encounter with his Maker.

The old gent in question is retired jeweller Maurice (Julian Glover), who has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour. We meet him as palliative nurse Katy (Nicola McAuliffe) books in for her first shift. How long has he got? “Six but it may be as little as two.” “Years?” he asks hopefully. “Months?” No, weeks.

What’s imperative is that Maurice must hold out for his 90th birthday, for on this special occasion none other than the Queen has promised to join him for tea. Mind you, there is no great likelihood that Her Maj. will remember this pledge, it having been made 60 years earlier, on the eve of her Coronation, when Maurice stood guard over the Crown Jewels.

But, should she fail, Maurice’s long suffering missus Helena (Gay Soper, right) and Katy have plans for a substitute. Thus we get to see Ms McAuliffe joining that impressive band of thesps (including Rosemary Leach, Prunella Scales and, of course, Helen Mirren who have played our reigning monarch. She does it splendidly, too.

Handing over a birthday gift of a packet of Duchy Originals biscuits, she observes: “My son has done rather well in trade,” with the merest touch of distaste in her delivery of that last word.

As the writer as well as a star of this play, Ms McAuliffe shows a sure-handed grasp of what will work on stage. While Maurice’s Jubilee (director Hannah Eidinow) is hokum, it is warm-hearted hokum, with much to savour in its wit and sound characterisation.

The long and loving marriage of Maurice and Helena is shown particularly well. We see how it has survived the disappointment of their only child, an Australian sheep farmer who has not phoned Maurice for two years, and a significant downturn in their financial fortunes.

In what some might judge an unlikely concatenation of circumstances they have been hit by a triple whammy of Bradford & Bingley, Northern Rock and a jewel heist. Painful particularly for status-conscious Helen, they have been forced to go cruiseless and move from a house in leafy Barnes, with its view of the Boat Race course, to a two-bedroom bungalow in Penge. Even so, this devoted couple are viewed with something approaching envy by Katy, whose lack of physical allure has robbed her of any close relationship. She started out plain, she says glumly, and did not improve with age. Her deep well of concern and tenderness is instead devoted to giving her patients as happy a send-off as possible. Far from a wasted life, then. Until Saturday. Box office: 01865 305305