Ferman originally came to the United Kingdom while in the United States Air Force, following an English degree from Cornell, where he was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. He subsequently studied at King's College, Cambridge. Before his time at the BBFC, Ferman worked on TV series such as Armchair Theatre, and after moving from ABC to ATV, Emergency Ward 10 and many documentaries. He also wrote the libretto for the musical Zuleika. At the BBFC, Ferman oversaw extensive liberalization of censorship standards and fronted a successful campaign for the Home Office to prohibit common lawprivate prosecutions against films, which were being used extensively during the 1970s. In the late 1980s he faced criticism by some media outlets who accused him of allowing videos to pass which they blamed for real-life violence. This led him to take caution over violent and sexually violent works, but his continued liberalization led to an anti-BBFC campaign run by the Daily Mail. He later faced criticism for refusing to allow several films from the 1970s to be released following the introduction of video censorship under the Video Recordings Act 1984 and the media outcry over "video nasties". These films, including works such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, were not without cultural value, said many cultural commentators. Ferman was also well known for his policies on illegal weapons, which resulted in sequences involving nunchuks being removed, including in films such as Enter the Dragon starring Bruce Lee, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Namco video game Soul Blade. One notable change in 1991's was after being unable to tell "the difference between a martial arts weapon and a sausage, and believing that children would be similarly bamboozled." However, under Ferman's tenure cuts to films, once comparatively routine, became exceedingly scarce. While liberal commentators complained about his refusal to release certain films, others saw him as excessively lenient. This dichotomy was clear right up to the end of his tenure when he was criticized both for refusing to allow the release of The Exorcist on video and for permitting the uncut release of David Cronenberg's Crash in cinemas. In 1997, Ferman clashed with new home secretary Jack Straw over policy on pornographic videos. Ferman released several hardcorepornographic films uncut after liberalizing the guidelines in 1996, suggesting that relaxation of restrictions would discourage illegal material. After Straw was appointed, Ferman failed to prevent him from forcing the BBFC to use the old, stricter guidelines on pornography, and from imposing a new president on the Board. In 1998, after these events, Ferman retired.
