TODAY is Back to the Future Day - the very date that Marty McFly travels to the distant future of 2015 in the hit film trilogy.

But have you ever watched a film set in the past and wondered what was going on in (the equally glamorous and exciting setting of) our very own Southampton and Hampshire at the time? Well, here's your chance to find out.

Daily Echo: The DeLorean - Universal Pictures

In Back to the Future Part II, Marty, played by Michael J Fox, jumps in the DeLorean with Doc Brown and travels to the then distant future, of October 21, 2015.

It's a world full of flying cars, hoverboards, self-drying clothes and pizzas which go from tiny to huge in mere seconds.

But while not all of the films' predictions of 2015 have come true - there's certainly no Skyway for flying cars along the M27 - what was life like in the other dates featured in the movies?

Here, the Daily Echo looks through the archives at what was going on in Southampton and Hampshire on the dates from 1985, 1955 and 1885 - and there's not a Tannen in sight.

October 26, 1985 - The day Doc Brown shows Marty McFly his DeLorean time machine

This is where the films start, with Doc Brown showing off his greatest invention to the young Marty. However the experiment is thrown into turmoil when terrorists show up wanting money for their plutonium and before long Marty is hitting 88 mph and travelling back to the 50s to escape. But as he sees the Time Machine for the first time, this is what going on - rather less dramatically - here in Hampshire:

Gas repair men in Southampton went on strike this week to protest against management going out at night to repair gas leaks. The men, who gathered outside the gates of Southern Gas depot in Britannia Road - which would later become St Mary's Stadium, were angry that supervisors were repairing leaks and depriving them of bonus pay.

A rugby team were keen to find the thief or practical joker who stripped them of their kit. All 15 red and black hooped shirts belonging to Fareham Heathens 3rd XV were taken from the team captain’s car.

Daily Echo:

At Mann Egerton’s Renault dealership on West Quay Road, you could drive off with a five-door Renault 11 GTL in white, red or blue, for just £5,735 (£15,000 today), while a Renault 5 GTL was a snip at £3,756 (£10,000).

Bill Bank’s hopes of retiring quietly from his job at Southampton Airport were dashed today when his colleagues announced his departure with a message across the sky.

Daily Echo: Bill Banks

As colleagues toasted his 38 years of service with a glass of wine, a plane appeared overhead towing a special tribute to Bill, who worked as a senior aircraft refueller.

On our television sets, we were watching Grandstand, Terry and June and Juliet Bravo on BBC1, while those with a taste for action tuned into ITV to watch Wrestling and Airwolf in the daytime followed by the A-Team and Game for a Laugh in the evening.

The ABC cinema was showing Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, while Cocoon was the main feature at the Odeon. 

Daily Echo:

In sport, Saints put three past QPR at The Dell, with a goal from Glenn Cockerill sandwiched between a brace from Danny Wallace, in front of 15,615 people. The result lifted them to 18th in the First Division.

November 5 1955 - the day Marty McFly arrives in 1955 after jumping in the DeLorean to escape the terrorists in 1985.

Daily Echo: George and Marty McFly in 1955 - Universal Pictures

Marty arrives in the 50s, accidentally stops his mum and dad from getting together and has to play matchmaker before his entire family is wiped out - and then somehow jump start the time machine and get Back to the Future. Meanwhile, in Hampshire...

The front page story of the Daily Echo on this day was about the Labour leader in the House of Lords, Earl Jowitt, wanting to stand down from the role.

In Southampton, thieves had made off with 14,200 cigarettes and £3 (£69 today) in coins after breaking in through the sky light of Stewart's Grocers in Lower York Street, in the Northam area. It was the town's "most daring raid in years" according to the Daily Echo.

A 23-year-old man was jailed for three months and fined £1 (£23 today) for stealing a motorcycle from the Plaza Cinema in the town, near to Northam Bridge.

Daily Echo:

Rents for homes in Crosswell Close in Thornhill were put up from £1 a week to £1 6s 8d (£1.38). That's the same as a rise from £24 a week to £32 in 2015.

Meanwhile, if you wanted to buy a house, a large three bedroom home in Bitterne Park would cost you £2,750 - the equivalent of £63,000 today - while a three bed home near to the Ordnance Survey offices in Maybush was £1,850 (£43,000 today).

In sport, Saints hammered Coventry City 3-0 at The Dell in Division Three South, while the University of Southampton basketball team lost 61-53 to Bonn University from West Germany.

Daily Echo: Marty McFly in 1955 - Universal Pictures

The top films on show in the city were Gentlemen Marry Brunettes at the Gaumont starring Jane Russell and You're Never to Young starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis at the Odeon on Above Bar Street.

The weather was dry, with a high temperature of 62°F (16°C).

September 2, 1885 - Marty McFly arrives in the Wild West to try and save Doc Brown

Daily Echo:

By now they've been to 1955, 1985 and 2015 a few times in different time lines, but if ever there was a lesson in car maintenance, this is it. Ignoring a glitch accidentally sends the Doc back 100 years and Marty has to get back in time to bring him home. But while Hampshire was certainly not the wild west, it was very, very different to now.

The Daily Echo was still three years away from publishing its first edition, but our sister weekly publication, the Hampshire Chronicle, had already been going strong for 113 years. It's nearest edition was three days later, on September 5.

At Fareham court, Stephen Seaward Pearce, from Southampton, was in court charged with stealing and embezzling a grand total of £10 3s and 21d (£10.36 or in today's money, around £1,100) after taking coal from his employers, before selling it to the Victoria Hotel in Lee-on-the-Solent, and not paying the money into his employer's bank account. He was bailed with sureties worth a total of £200 (£22,000 in 2015).

Daily Echo:

In Southampton, 63-year-old John Oram from Chapel Street, died in the docks after being hit on the head by a bucket of ash weighing around 1cwt (50kg or eight stone) which fell from the Royal Mail steamer, Avon. He was identified by his daughter and the inquest returned a verdict of accidental death.

Around 200 school children were taken on a trip on a train from Winchester to Weston Grove on the banks of Southampton Water. They disembarked at the village of Sholing, where they were met by scores of villagers, a band playing music and banners being waved to welcome them as they walked to Weston. Once there, they enjoyed tea and games, including a balloon ascent.

Sadler's Mill near Romsey was put for auction, including 10 acres of meadow, extensive water and fishing rights and a 'comfortable residence'.

Daily Echo: Doc Brown and Marty McFly in 1885 - Universal Pictures

If you wanted a job, a man could work as a bailiff at Ashe Warren Farm near Basingstoke for £1 a week, plus lodgings (£110 in 2015), while a woman - who was at least 25 years old and tall - could be a parlourmaid for a wage of £20 (£2,200) a year.

As for homes, a nine bed house in Hyde Street, Winchester, was available for rent for £6 6s a week (£6.30) which would be £720 in 2015.

October 21, 2015 - the day they go back to the future.

Okay, so the film doesn't feature smartphones, the Internet and some of its predictions - like fax machines everywhere or cars powered by nuclear fusion plants - haven't quite come true, but for a 30 year old film, there's some not-too-far-off guesses.

For example, there's wearable tech like glasses with screens in, drones which record the news and using your thumb print to pay for things.

Daily Echo: Marty McFly in 2015 - Universal Pictures

Even the iconic hoverboard is finally getting nearer with Lexus earlier this year showcasing a version which uses magnets to levitate.

The huge voice controlled television screens are starting to appear in homes now, thanks to firms like Apple, Samsung and Google - but what the film doesn't predict is that we'd be using them to watch the Back to the Future Trilogy again and again.

• Additional reporting and images by Jez Gale