Perkins was a founder-editor of the journal Movie (1962 - 2000) and was employed as Teacher Adviser at the British Film Institute (BFI) before leaving to take up an academic post in 1968.
[1] He co-founded the film department at the University of Warwick in 1978, where he acted as a full time lecturer/senior lecturer until 2004.
[3] Perkins remained an active scholar until he died, continuing to lecture at Warwick University, as well as write and give papers on film analysis at home and abroad.
[5] Perkins married Tessa Pudney (daughter of the poet John Pudney) in the late 1960s [6] Their son, Toby Perkins, is the Labour Member of Parliament for Chesterfield.
Their daughter, Polly Vienna Perkins, is a writer and film producer.