What did Benedict Cumberbatch say?

Now we just [answer?] the small talk, show me the demons.

"answer" doesn't make a lot of sense, so I can't say I'm absolutely certain that's what was said.

CJ

I think I hear 'dispense with a/the small talk'. But I'm not clear about what's before 'dispense' or whether it's "a" or "the" small talk.

listeneverwhether it's "a" or "the" small talk.

I'm sure of this part. The collocation "a small talk" doesn't exist in English, or if it does it is exceedingly rare.

CJ

It sounds like Now we dispense with the small talk to me.

Blue JayIt sounds like Now we dispense with the small talk to me.

Yup. That's it.

CJ

Thanks, everyone.

Now we dispense with... or Now we've dispensed with...?
or Now we dispensed with...?

listeneverNow we've dispensed with

It could be this one, but my ears aren't good enough to say for certain. I don't hear the /v/ or the /d/, but that doesn't mean they're not there.

CJ

The reason for asking about the tense of the phrase 'dispense with' is that its meaning is somewhat elusive to me, especially whether the phrase means an action or a state.
If it's an action I presume the present tense 'Now we dispense with...' doesn't make sense, and thus it has to be either the past tense or the present perfect tense despite no clear sound of /v/ or /t/.

On the oth

listeneverIf it's an action I presume the present tense 'Now we dispense with...' doesn't make sense

No. You're going off in the wrong direction. Supposing it's just a present tense, it's still an action and it still makes sense. This can be called the procedural (simple) present.

This is a matter of verbalizing the steps which the speaker