special edition DVD. Kermode's family connections with the Isle of Man have led to him playing a role in Manx culture and the arts. This has seen him host various talks on the island including; An Evening with Mark Kermode at the Ballakermeen High School. He is involved with the annual Isle of Man Film Festival. Kermode became patron of the Sir John Hurt Film Trust in November 2019. He is a visiting fellow at the University of Southampton. Music Kermode played double bass for a skiffle/rockabilly band called The Railtown Bottlers in the early 1990s. The Railtown Bottlers were the house band on the BBC show Danny Baker After All for a series, starting in 1993, where he performed with Madness lead singer, Suggs. In 2001 he formed The Dodge Brothers, playing double bass in the skiffle quartet. Talking about his musical abilities he says “Somehow I got away with it. You can listen to it. It’s not terrible, it’s not brilliant, but it’s fine.” Kermode says that sheer persistence is the key to his musical success: “I’d rate enthusiasm and persistence over talent. And that’s been a guiding light, that you shouldn’t be put off by being unprepared or technically inept. I have managed to surround myself with other people who can play. And actually that’s the trick.” Personal life Kermode is married to Linda Ruth Williams, a professor who lectures on film at the University of Exeter. From October to November 2004, they jointly curated a History of the Horror Film season and exhibition at the National Film Theatre in London. Kermode and Williams have two children. Kermode has been described as "a feminist, a near vegetarian (he eats fish), a churchgoer and a straight-arrow spouse who just happens to enjoy seeing people's heads explode across a cinema screen". In the mid-1980s, Kermode was an "affiliate" of the Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG) and was involved in the Viraj Mendis Defence Campaign, against the deportation of one of the group's members to Sri Lanka. This developed into a high-profile national campaign involving people from left-wing groups such as the RCG, local residents of Manchester, and extending to church leaders and Labour Party Members of Parliament. Kermode describes himself in this period as "a red-flag waving bolshie bore with a subscription to Fight Racism Fight Imperialism and no sense of humour." Awards and honours Kermode is a patron of