BAFTA TV awards: Sue Perkins takes a swipe at Channel 4 over Bake Off

'The very best of luck to the new Bake Off team. They're going to need it. They're about to discover what Mel and I left for them in the groundsheet'

It was a sure bet BAFTA TV Awards host Sue Perkins wasn't going to get through the night without a couple of quips about The Great British Bake Off.

Thankfully, for the audience, she didn't really hold back, opening the night with a shout out to (now ex-) Bake Off judge Mary Berry, who took part in an opening VT in which the pair played strip poker.

"Give her a couple of white rums and she'll be pressed up against one of the Casualty hunks. Nothing less than a senior registrars because she's got class, that lady," she joked.

Then, of course, she touched upon the rather controversial loss of Bake Off by the BBC to Channel 4; a move which has seen Perkins, Berry, and co-host Mel Giedroyc all leave the televised baking competition.

While discussing BBC drama The Replacement, in which a woman on maternity leave becomes increasingly paranoid as to the motives of the person covering for her, Perkins quipped that it was, "a show about how stressful it can be when someone takes over your job. I really couldn't relate to it."

"Genuinely, hand on heart," she added. "The very best of luck to the new Bake Off team. They're going to need it. They're about to discover what Mel and I left for them in the groundsheet."

Perkins managed even to sneak in one more dig before she wrapped up her opening monologue, joking that things should "crack on before someone sells the format to Channel 4".

You can read the full list of the night's winners here.