Background
Ferris was born in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany, to Welsh parents, while her father was serving in the Royal Air Force. Her father, Fred Ferris, was a policeman, and her mother, Ann Perkins, worked in her family"s bakery business.
Ferris was born in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany, to Welsh parents, while her father was serving in the Royal Air Force. Her father, Fred Ferris, was a policeman, and her mother, Ann Perkins, worked in her family"s bakery business.
Ferris performed in her younger years at the Mercury Theatre in Auckland, and later with various regional companies in the United Kingdom. Ferris played motherly Ma Larkin in the Independent Television series The Darling Buds of May, which ran from 1991 to 1993. She has also acted in a succession of television dramas. These include: Meantime, in which she played the Cockney mother of Philosophy Daniels and Tim Roth, Connie, Hardwicke House, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Where the Heart Is and Paradise Heights.
From 2003 to 2006, she played the gardening sleuth, Laura Thyme, in Rosemary & Thyme.
Ferris portrayed the horrid school headmistress Mission Agatha Trunchbull in Matilda. She has also acted in productions for British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 4.
Her career in the theatre has included parts in Royal Court Theatre and National Theatre productions. In 2007 she played Phoebe Rice in an acclaimed revival of John Osborne"s The Entertainer at London"s Old Vic Theatre.
In 2007 Ferris took part in the British Broadcasting Corporation Wales programme Coming Home about her Welsh family history.
In 2008 she played Mrs General in an all-star cast British Broadcasting Corporation adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel Little Dorrit. In 2009 she appeared in the final series of the British Broadcasting Corporation comedy Gavin & Stacey. In 2010 she made a guest appearance in the sitcom Grandma"s House.
In 2012, Ferris began playing the part of Sister Evangelina in the series Call the Midwife.
On March 6th 2016 Ferris left Call the Midwife after four years. In June and July 2015 Ferris was the guest of Sarah Walker on British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 3"s Essential Classics.