The Burning is a BBC Books original novel written by Justin Richards and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.

In the late 19th century, the village of Middleton is on the verge of bankruptcy due to the tin mine running out, when a huge fissure opens in the moorlands.

Dobbs and the Doctor break into the manor and discover that Nepath had been making many copies of his artifacts out of the metal, then selling them, as well as a young woman's body in a box, before narrowly escaping the Urtons.

The Doctor explains to Reverend Stobbold that Nepath is helping living magma, with the power to reform itself, which has already replaced the Urtons and mine workers.

He reveals that the body in the case is his sister Patience's, who died as the result of a building collapsing after a fire, and Nepath believes that the creature can bring her back to life.