Sue Birtwistle and Andrew Davies agreed in 1986 to adapt Pride and Prejudice for television, and their version was made as a six-episode series rather than five to suit scheduling. They wanted a new adaptation shot on film, since earlier videotaped BBC versions looked too undernourished. Davies emphasised sex and money as themes and added backstage scenes, such as the Bennet sisters dressing to market themselves. Filming took place in 1994 across 24 mostly National Trust locations, with costume designer Dinah Collin creating most of the clothes. The producers imagined Darcy as dark-haired, though the novel does not say so, and asked Colin Firth to dye his hair, eyebrows and lashes black. The series became a major hit and a defining adaptation.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.