Ferguson worked on The Bill during “its most popular period” when it switched in 1987 from a series to a “soap-style” twice-weekly half-hour format.
[6] Because of Ferguson's success with the programme, Peter Cregeen - the head of series at the BBC - “poached” him in 1989 to become the executive producer of BBC1's flagship soap opera, EastEnders.
EastEnders had come under criticism due to falling ratings and "comic storylines" which many viewers felt were stretching its credibility.
[7] According to EastEnders scriptwriter Colin Brake, Ferguson was responsible for bringing in a "new sense of vitality", and creating a programme that was “more in touch” with the “real world” than it had been over the last year.
[7] Ferguson altered the way the episodes were produced, changed the way the storylines were conceptualised and introduced a far greater amount of location work than had previously been seen.