Fairy circle
A fairy circle was a type of construct used to bind something.
In 2024, the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday encountered one on the Welsh coast – described as a liminal space by Enid Meadows – supposedly devoted to the binding of an entity named "Mad Jack". The circle was made out of cotton string and contained bundles of flowers and scrolls.
In the Doctor and Ruby's original encounter with the circle, the Doctor stepped on and broke it before he noticed it was there. He and Ruby subsequently crouched down to look at the objects in the circle, Ruby wondering if it had been constructed by children. Ruby picked up one scroll and read "Rest in peace, Mad Jack" before discovering the Doctor was gone and a woman was standing in the distance. The woman followed Ruby wherever she went and always stayed 73 yards away.
When Ruby arrived at the nearby village of Glyngatwg in search of help, the villagers at Y Pren Marw – Enid Meadows, Lowri Palin, Thin Lucy and Ifor Jones – pranked her about the fairy circle by pretending they believed it was real and that she had unleashed something terrible. Ruby was forced to live out a lifetime in solitude, afraid to get close to anyone because of the woman's presence, as anyone who interacted with her was turned against Ruby and refused to have anything more to do with her.
Upon her death in that timeline, Ruby was transported back in time to the day the circle was broken and herself manifested as the woman. Seen by her younger self, she was able to prevent the breaking of the fairy circle, undoing the timeline.
Upon that second encounter, the Doctor recognized what the circle was as soon as he saw it, and advised Ruby not to touch anything. The two walked around the circle instead. (TV: 73 Yards [+]Loading...["73 Yards (TV story)"])
