Pride and Prejudice is a six-episode BBC drama from 1995, adapted by Andrew Davies from Jane Austen's 1813 novel. Jennifer Ehle played Elizabeth Bennet and Colin Firth played Mr Darcy, and the series was co-funded by the American A&E Network, which aired it in the US in early 1996. Critics and viewers loved it, and it won a BAFTA for Ehle and a Primetime Emmy for costume design. A scene of Firth emerging from a lake in a wet shirt became one of the most talked-about moments in British television. The role made Firth a star, and the series also inspired Helen Fielding to write her Bridget Jones novels, whose film adaptations cast Firth as Mark Darcy.

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.