Back To The Future III "Was The End Of The Story”

In 1985, at a speed of 88 miles per hour, jamming out to Huey Lewis & The News, pop culture history was made. Back To The Future, starring Michael J Fox as teenage slacker Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as his wild-eyed, wild-haired science-genius companion, was an instant hit upon release, spawning two sequels and creating a legion of dedicated fans in its wake.

For a trilogy so steeped in specific time periods – 1885, 1955, 1985 and the distant, far-off year of 2015 – the Back To The Future saga has achieved a sense of timelessness, the intangible stamp of being a “classic”, despite – or perhaps because of – its historical specificity.

“I think, for one thing, it’s very much a family picture,” Lloyd explains of the trilogy’s lasting appeal three decades after the original film’s release. “You know, you have Marty with his mom and dad and his brother and sister, and his girlfriend, and you have Doc, who’s kind of an avuncular sort – this crazy scientist/inventor – and becomes very much a mentor. I think Marty’s fascinated by this guy, who comes up with all sorts of odd inventions, and he gets carried away with it, literally, through time. So I think there’s plenty there for adults, and of course for young people, to involve themselves with.”

Lloyd, who was simply “hoping that I would be able to fulfil the role the first day”, never expected Back To The Future’s incendiary success, but acknowledges that as much as Fox’s affable Marty is a crucial part of the film’s cross-generational appeal, so, too, is the warmth and wisdom brought to the table by Doc. And, although he finds the prospect unlikely, he is at least intrigued by the notion of resurrecting the character to chart his adventures with his wife, children and dog, following their departure for destinations and times unknown at the end of Back To The Future: Part III.

“I think that if they come up with a Back To The Future IV, we may find out – but I wouldn’t hold my breath, [Back To The Future III] was the end of the story,” Lloyd says. “It’d be interesting to go there and satisfy what Doc and his lady and the two kids, Jules and Verne, what kind of adventures they could have gotten into.”

But, even if that never happens – “realistically, it won’t” – Lloyd remains humbled to have been a part of creating such a special character and film series.

“There’s a lot of fans I’ve met, young people, who have gone into science … physics or engineering, etc, and it’s nice to know it’s had a very positive effect on many, and that it’s popular. I mean, if I never do anything else with my life, I certainly would be gratified just to have that.”​