Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's three-part documentary about chickens started strongly the night before last. I have to say it surpassed my expectations and turned out to be a fascinating, informative and even entertaining programme. I was expecting a real shocker – full of chicken blood and death and gloom. Of course, the subject is one that needs to be addressed and the rearing of chicken is something that bothers a lot of people, but still, as a television programme – helped considerably by HFW's boundless enthusiasm – it worked really well.

Judging by the trailers – HFW crying his eyes out – the chances were that part two was going to be much moodier. Let's see what happens.

We pick up HFW's story at his self-made battery farm. He was finding it difficult to cope with the industry-standards and wearing of boiler suits – down at River Cottage he wears his wellies, breaths in the sweet Devon air and hasn't got a care in the world. This was an entirely different proposition.

His chickens were already getting bigger, and the stench of the shed was beginning to tell. His experiment saw him create one half for the bog-standard birds and some free-range birds, separated by a wooden wall. The bog-standard birds had artifical light for 23 hours a day to encourage constant eating (to make them fatter, quicker). They had no mental stimulation at all.

The free-range side had bails of hay, some footballs to play with and their own garden to chill out in. No wonder Hugh was feeling guilty.

After some more brush-offs from the supermarkets (he was still desperately trying to engage them in some sort of dialogue), he took a visit to the allotment (where he had instigated a community project, designed to show people who bought cheap birds what went into rearing free-range chickens) and was impressed. The estate community had taken to the project, and looked after the chickens every day. What Hugh was worried about was the fact that they were getting very close to the birds – some had already given them names. HFW wondered whether they may be getting too attached, but it was clear that the project was starting to change their attitudes. He pushed the point home by showing how far one bird could go, so he gathered the crew together to show them how they could produce an extra meal with leftovers. A tasty chicken risotto, which went down a storm.

Back at the shed, HFW's foreman, John, went about his business – daily vaccinations and health checks. Chicken rearing is such a ruthless business, and any bird that is underweight or has gammy legs is immediately wrenched from the crowd and has its neck snapped. If it's not an economically viable bird it has to go, simple as that. The shots of birds having their necks snapped were not particularly nice, and it was clear that HFW wasn't quite as rigorous in his checks as John.

It was time to show the allotment crew the harsh reality of intensive farming. He dressed everyone in the requisite boiler suits, and took them to show the free range side. All fine. Then he showed them the instensive side and it was a different story – the sight of so many chickens crammed into a small space reduced everyone to tears. Everyone, that is, apart from Hayley.

Throughout the two shows Hayley had become an interesting character. She took the mick out of plummy Hugh at every opportunity, and maintained that, as a single mum, she could only afford the intensively-farmed birds. She didn't care about their conditions, she just knew what she could afford. After she had seen the intensive side, she was still steadfast, but she was out on a limb.

Then HFW had to do a morning check and the much-trailered sequence of HFW breaking down took place. He spotted two chickens that weren't moving, crippled under the weight of their over-fed bellies, and realised he had to snap their necks. He broke down and it was a genuinely touching moment.

The end of the show saw HFW call Jamie Oliver to the shed to see for himself what intensive chicken farming was all about, and HFW calling a town meeting in an attempt to make Axminster the UK's first free-range task.

Still enjoying it and still finding it interesting. It seemed to me the intensity was notched up tonight, and HFW's quest was really beginning to unravel. I'll be watching tomorrow night for sure.