Personal life

Ferris was born in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany, to Welsh parents, while her father was serving in the Royal Air Force. Ferris spent her childhood in the Aberkenfig area, near Bridgend in Wales. Her father, Fred Ferris, was a policeman, and her mother, Ann Perkins, worked in her family's bakery business. Her family emigrated to New Zealand when she was 13. Ferris returned to the UK in her early 20s. In 1986, she married actor Roger Frost. She lives in Elham, Kent, South East England.

Career

Ferris performed in her younger years at the Mercury Theatre in Auckland, and later with various regional companies in the UK.

Ferris played motherly Ma Larkin in the ITV 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 Phil 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.

Her roles in costume dramas include parts in television adaptations of Middlemarch, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Our Mutual Friend, The Turn of the Screw, Pollyanna and Jane Eyre.

Ferris portrayed the horrid school headmistress Miss Agatha Trunchbull in Matilda. Additionally, she played the nasty Aunt Marge in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Miriam, a motherly activist in Children of Men, both of which were directed by Alfonso Cuarón.

She has also acted in productions for BBC 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 BBC Wales programme Coming Home about her Welsh family history.

In 2008 she played Mrs General in an all-star cast BBC adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel Little Dorrit. In 2009 she appeared in the final series of the BBC comedy Gavin & Stacey. In 2010 she made a guest appearance in the sitcom Grandma's House.

From 2012 to 2016 Ferris played the part of Sister Evangelina in the series Call the Midwife.

In June and July 2015 Ferris was the guest of Sarah Walker on BBC Radio 3's Essential Classics.

Filmography

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	BBC Play of the Month	Puck and Fairie
1984	Dramarama	Dorothy
1985	The Bill	Mrs. Draper
1985	Connie	Nesta
1986	Ladies in Charge	Charlie
1987	Hardwicke House	Ms. Crabbe
1987	Lizzie's Pictures	Grace
1987	Dramarama	Paul's mother
1987	Casualty	Linda
1988	The Fear	Brenda
1988	Valentine Park	Mrs. Fox
1988	South of the Border	Brenda
1989	All Change	Maggie Oldfield
1990	Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit	Mrs. Arkwright
1990	A Sense of Guilt	Magdalen Parry
1991-1993	The Darling Buds of May	Florence "Ma" Larkin
1992	Mr Wakefield's Crusade	Mad Marion
1992	Cluedo	Mrs. White
1992	Performance	Mrs. Bryant
1993	Comedy Playhouse	Matron
1994	Middlemarch	Mrs. Dollop
1994	The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends	Aunt Pettitoes (voice)
1994	The Rector's Wife	Eleanor Ramsay
1996	Wycliffe	Pat Trethowan
1996	The Tenant of Wildfell Hall	Mrs. Markham
1997-2000	Where the Heart Is	Peggy Snow
1998	Our Mutual Friend	Mrs. Boffin
2001	Linda Green	Norma Fitts
2002	Paradise Heights	Marion Eustace
2003	Clocking Off	Pat Fletcher
2003-2006	Rosemary & Thyme	Laura Thyme
2004	Agatha Christie's Marple	Elspeth McGillicuddy
2006	Jane Eyre	Grace Poole
2007	Lilies	Alice Bird
2008	Little Dorrit	Mrs. Hortensia General
2009	Gavin & Stacey	Catherina "Cath" Smith
2010	Grandma's House	Deborah Adler
2011	Midsomer Murders	Liz Tomlin
2011	Luther	Baba
2012-2016	Call the Midwife	Sister Evangelina

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Meantime	Mavis
1996	Matilda	Miss Trunchbull	Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
2001	The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby	Mrs. Squeers
2002	Death to Smoochy	Tommy Cotter
2004	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	Aunt Marge
2006	Children of Men	Miriam
2009	Nativity!	Mrs. Bevans
2009	Telstar	Mrs Violet Shenton
2009	Malice in Wonderland	The Duchess
2012	The Raven	Mrs. Bradley
2012	Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger	Mrs. Bevans
2013	Saving Santa	Mrs. Claus

[ Source: Wikipedia ]