In the 1969 film "Battle of Britain", Dowding was played by Laurence Olivier. Olivier had himself served as a pilot in the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during World War II. During filming in summer 1968, 86 years old and wheel-chair-bound by severe arthritis, Dowding visited the set at Hawkinge airfield in Kent. Olivier told Dowding he had sat behind the latter's desk all day "pretending to be you" and was "making an awful mess of it too", to which Dowding replied, "Oh, I'm sure you are." The crew and Olivier broke into laughter. Footage of this can be seen in the special features section of the film's Special Edition DVD.