We all love a good, thrilling climax but sometimes a work of drama betrays us by having a climax that's such a letdown that it invalidates that work's very existence.

And here's where we can post examples of fictional concoctions which suddenly feel like the air has deserted their tyres when they reach their resolution.

My first nomination is The Hound of the Baskervilles. It's just a dog in a mask.

In a mood of bored despondency I suffered through the Sound of Music the other day. It seemed a waste of the potential of the period to have the entire family manage to escape to Switzerland.

I didn't expect them all to be slaughtered in the convent crypt but a couple of the kids could've been killed by an avalanche or machine gunned at an unexpected checkpoint. I missed what became of the baroness as well, the only interesting character in it.