Tara (left) and Willow were the first lesbian couple to share a kiss on TV in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (20th Century Fox)

A producer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer has implied that killing off Tara – one half of a groundbreaking lesbian couple on the show – was a step “too far.”

Tara – played by Amber Benson – was introduced to the show halfway through season four, and soon stole queer hearts when she started a relationship with Alyson Hannigan’s character Willow.

However, she was shot dead towards the end of season six, leaving fans devastated.

Now, Marti Noxon, executive producer for show’s last two seasons, has questioned whether Tara’s death was necessary in a new interview.

“There were parts of season six where I feel we went too far,” she told Vulture.

“We pushed into some categories that almost felt sadistic and that Buffy was volunteering for things that were beyond just ‘bad choices’ and were almost irresponsible for the character.

“That may have to do with my own history! The personal, right? It’s personal.

“And I think that killing Tara was – in retrospect, of all the people, did she have to die?”

Benson and Maclay were reunited for an anniversary shoot for the show in March last year.

Fox TV group chair Gary Newman has also hinted that Buffy could be in line for a re-boot. However, this has yet to materialise.

Newman said that said that Buffy “is probably the most ripe show we have for bringing back.”

“It’s something we talk about frequently and Joss Whedon is really one of the greatest creators we ever worked with,” Newman said.

But he insisted that he was not announcing a definite come back because he “wouldn’t get out of the building alive” if he did.

The large number of lesbian and bisexual character deaths on TV has been widely criticised in the LGBT+ press.

In July 2017, it was revealed that 62 lesbian and bisexual female characters on TV shows were killed off in the previous two years.

This was the most in any two-year period since records began in 1976.

These deaths accounted for 10 percent of all on-screen demises, which is disproportionate to the quantity of LGBT characters on TV.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran for seven seasons between 1997 and 2003.