Plot

Two rich, eligible and handsome young bachelors gallop into Hertfordshire and the lives of every hopeful young maiden and her ambitious mother in the neighborhood. Mr Bingley has bought Netherfield Park and has brought his sisters and friend, Mr Darcy, with him. To Mrs Bennet at Longbourn House, they are the answer to her prayers. She has five daughters to marry, and their dowries are not large.—Anonymous

The story opens with two wealthy gentlemen riding horseback through the countryside in Hertfordshire, a county about 25 miles north of London. One of them, Charles Bingley (Crispin Bonham-Carter), intends to buy a local estate, called Netherfield, and move there. The other one is his friend Fitzwilliam Darcy (Colin Firth).

A middle-class family, the Bennets, reside in Hertfordshire, in the small town of Meryton, near Netherfield. The five daughters, all in their late teens, are, from eldest to youngest:

Jane (Susannah Harker), pleasant, likable, but shy. She rarely thinks ill of anyone.

Elizabeth (Lizzy) (Jennifer Ehle), smart, witty, and outspoken. She enjoys verbal sparring with people, and she is extremely good at it.

Mary (Lucy Briers), a "nerd", not at all sociable, prefers reading a book or playing the piano rather than human interaction. She often makes really stupid moralistic statements. The rest of the family, especially her younger sisters, make fun of her.

Katherine (Kitty) (Polly Maberly), flighty, silly, and not interested in anything serious. Her role in the whole serial seems to be to get picked on, and to be unhappy, occasionally driven to tears.

Lydia (Julia Sawalha), flighty and silly like Kitty, but even more so.

Their mother, Mrs. Bennet (Alison Steadman), is an extremely nervous and hyperexcitable woman, whose emotions and demeanor gyrate wildly from one moment to the next. Her favorite activities include complaining about the sad state of her nerves.

Mr. Bennet (Benjamin Whitrow) is as calm and unflappable as his wife is excitable. His favorite activities include reading a book, enjoying a glass of wine, and ridiculing his wife and three younger daughters.

The modest Bennet estate is called Longbourn.

One thing Mrs. Bennet is especially nervous about is getting at least one of the daughters into a respectable marriage. Longbourn is "entailed" to Mr. Bennet's cousin, William Collins (David Bamber), because the Bennets have no male heirs. Upon Mr. Bennet's death, Mr. Collins will assume ownership of the house and lands, and the Bennet family could be thrown out. Marriage to a wealthy gentleman would provide financial security.

When news comes that Mr. Bingley has purchased the large Netherfield estate, the family is excited. Mr. Bennet will have to visit him. Mr. Bennet says he has no intention of calling on Bingley, an act which causes Mrs. Bennet great distress. He finally admits that he was just teasing her, and that he has in fact called on Bingley, and that Bingley will be attending the next dance at the local assembly hall. The five girls (all except Mary, that is) are ecstatic.

The ball is attended by many townspeople, and by Bingley, his sisters Caroline (Anna Chancellor) and Louisa (Lucy Robinson), Louisa's husband Mr. Hurst (Rupert Vansittart) (whose role in the serial is to be drunk most of the time), and Bingley's friend Mr. Darcy. These people are from upper class society, and, with the exception of Charles Bingley himself, look down upon the locals. Darcy, who is even wealthier than Bingley, is almost completely unable to interact with people out of his social class. Bingley is introduced to the Bennets, and takes an immediate liking to Jane. But Darcy's cold aloofness makes an extremely bad impression on the Bennet sisters and their mother. Bingley dances with Jane, and then goes to Darcy to try to talk him into not being complete curmudgeon. Darcy doesn't want to dance with any of the local women. When Lizzy is pointed out to him, he says, within earshot of her, that she is "tolerable", but "not handsome enough to tempt me". She walks away. But despite what he just said, he can't help looking at her.

There is a party at Lucas Lodge, home of Sir William and Lady Lucas (Christopher Benjamin, Norma Streader) and their daughters Charlotte (Lucy Scott) (a very close friend of Lizzy) and Maria (Lucy Davis). It is attended by the Netherfield people. Caroline and Louisa show themselves to be extreme snobs. The party is also attended by some military officers who are stationed in Meryton. Darcy spends more time staring at Lizzy. Sir William tries to get Darcy to dance with Lizzy, and he is receptive to the idea, but Lizzy turns him down because of his earlier remark. Darcy later confides to Caroline that he finds her very attractive.

Back at Longbourn, a letter arrives for Jane, from Bingley's sisters, inviting her to come to dinner, though Charles Bingley will not be at home. Mrs. Bennet, who is now seriously working on getting Charles and Jane married, is disappointed that Charles will not be there, but tells Jane to go anyway and make the best of it. But she insists that Jane go on horseback rather than in the carriage, because it is likely to rain, so Jane will catch cold, have to stay the night, and will see Charles Bingley when he returns.

Mrs. Bennet's plan works out exactly: Jane rides horseback in the rain, and, at dinner, while being cruelly grilled by Caroline and Louisa, comes down with a bad cold and has to stay at Netherfield for a few days. The next day Lizzy walks to Netherfield to stay with her. Darcy is staying there also; Lizzy is not friendly toward him. Over the next few days, while Lizzy is staying at Netherfield, she has a number of conversations, generally rather tense, with the Netherfield people. She learns that Darcy has a younger sister Georgiana. At one point she engages in some very serious verbal sparring with Darcy over the attributes of an accomplished woman.

Mrs. Bennet, along with Kitty and Lydia, come to Netherfield for a few days. Mr. Bingley is very pleasant and gracious to all, but there is a lot of tension between the middle-class Bennets and Mr. Bingley's sisters. Mrs. Bennet makes an extremely poor impression on Mr. Bingley's sisters and on Darcy. Mr. Bingley promises Kitty and Lydia that, when Jane is recovered, he will hold a dance at Netherfield.

At one point Mr. Darcy looks out the window and sees Lizzy playing with a dog. He seems to be impressed with Lizzy's easygoing playfulness, compared with the social strictures that his aristocratic lifestyle place upon him.

One of Darcy and Lizzy's verbal sparring sessions becomes quite testy. Darcy says "My good opinion, once lost, is lost forever."

After Jane is recovered, and she and Lizzy go home, Mr. Darcy tells Caroline that he is no longer interested in Lizzy. She has offended him too much.