A real drama within a drama

Mark Ellis and camera crew interview police during a search for a man in the Waikato River at Cambridge. Photo / Jason Dorday

As police scoured the Waikato River for a missing driver yesterday, celebrity larrikin Marc Ellis was a curious addition to the sombre scene.

The TV personality and former All Black was filming an episode for the second series of his TVNZ show How The Other Half Lives.

"One of the topics in this series is boy racers," said Ellis.

"We are trying to understand the mentality of what's driving this boy racer culture, and whether it's just a media beat-up. We're trying to get both sides of the equation clearly - the police from one perspective and boy racers the other."

The missing man had jumped from his Fiat hatchback into the Waikato River to evade police on Friday night.

Police divers spent much of yesterday searching for the man but attempts to find him were hindered by the car's registered owner refusing to cooperate.