As a spiritual successor to Der Schuh des Manitu, the film is based on a recurring skit from Herbig's TV show Bullyparade, "Unser (T)Raumschiff".

At first, Captain Kork is very reluctant to follow the order to return to Earth immediately (because he, Spuck and Schrotty intend to try out for a 'Miss Waikiki' contest),[3] but ultimately, he changes his mind.

Technical problems ("damage done by martens") prevent direct transport, however, so Kork orders Schrotty to call a space taxi.

Rock manages to break through the Martian blockade, but during the action, the taxi is chased and damaged heavily, finally crashing beside the Queen's palace.

When the Regulator's forces attack the capital city, Rock and Metapha join Kork and Spucky "in" the device, while Schrotty remains behind.

Once more, they encounter Maul, who has painstakingly reassembled the ruined time sofa, and witness the UFO (which turns out to be no bigger than a football) crashing.

The government officials are not convinced until Spuck provides proof in the form of a futuristic piece of technology, a thermometer with a vibrating alarm, which he had inserted just before departure.

After the success of Der Schuh des Manitu, Michael "Bully" Herbig had asked his Bullyparade audience to decide his next movie project.

(T)Raumschiff Surprise parodies the (mostly science fiction) films Star Trek, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, The Fifth Element, Back to the Future, The Time Machine, Independence Day, A Knight's Tale, Men in Black, Minority Report, High Noon, The Matrix, E.T.

(T)Raumschiff Surprise has a prequel scene to Der Schuh des Manitu when the protagonists travel back in time to the wild west.

The closing title song, Space Taxi by Stefan Raab featuring Spucky, Kork and Schrotty, was released as a single which reached No.